Gift of the Goddess
by Sinsaru
Summary: AU: A story of what could have happened if Sephiroth had not lost his sanity that fateful day in Nibelheim. How will it affect the fate of the Planet, and how will the future unfold differently? Rated T for Barret and Cid, obviously. Reviews welcome! (11/4/12: Finally, CH14 is up! Thank you for your patience!)
1. Chapter 1

AN: Welcome to my second attempt at a fanfiction. Hopefully this one goes much better than my previous, which didn't last very long... anyways! This story does have spoilers of course, but being an AU there *will* be changes. It would help if you have played Crisis Core FF7 or at least have an understanding of the plot, as this story references it heavily and there are spoilers to the plot of Crisis Core too. I will try to keep the characters as canon as possible within the boundaries of the story, but if I seem to go off too much please, review and let me know! Anyway, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7, or any of its characters except any OCs I may choose to insert later.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 1

The town stood sleepily at the foot of the mountain it was named after in the morning light. A small town on the edge of civilization itself, its only real value (according to ShinRa anyway) was the fact it played host to the reactor housed on the mountainside. With that being said, the residents themselves were wary at best of the Corporation and its reputation did not escape them. Still, today was a bit different from most days. A SOLDIER inspection team was supposed to be arriving today to inspect odd monsters coming from the reactor. The local MPs had been taking care of any that were getting too close to town, but some of the strange looking monsters had been exceptionally strong and injured several of the MPs stationed there. With the safety of one of their precious mako reactors in possible danger, ShinRa had little choice but to send some of their finest to investigate and clear out the problem.

Said SOLDIERs and the two MPs assigned to them had just arrived at the gates to the town of Nibelheim. In front stood a man very few could say they didn't recognize. General Sephiroth himself had been assigned to investigate the problem, and with him a newly minted SOLDIER 1st, Zack Fair joined him. Zack seemed to be in fairly good spirits this day, with his usual grin on his face, but for those that knew him it was almost a bit forced compared to his usual demeanor.

"It's been a while since you've been back to your hometown right? How does it feel?" Sephiroth turned and looked at one of the MPs, who shrugged in reply and said nothing.

Sephiroth looked up at the sky as he spoke again, "I wouldn't know... I don't have a hometown of my own..."

"Ehh... What about your parents?" Zack asked. He was actually a bit surprised, he had never heard Sephiroth talk about his hometown or his parents, even though they had been on missions together before. It struck him as a bit odd, since he distinctly remembered telling the General all about his parents in Gongaga back on a mission to the Sector 5 reactor.

Sephiroth seemed to pause at the question, but never took his eyes off the sky as he replied. "My mother's name was Jenova. She died after giving birth to me... and my father..." After saying that, an odd sort of dark chuckle came from the man, which disturbed Zack a bit and sent chills down his spine. "What am I saying...? Come on, let's go." With that, the General turned and entered the town.

'Sephiroth's mother's name is Jenova... huh...' Zack thought to himself as he and the MPs followed Sephiroth towards the Inn. Before his thoughts could carry any further, a girl's voice interrupted them.

"Hey, are you the SOLDIERs that were sent here to do an investigation?" she said. Zack turned and saw a girl in an interesting looking cowgirl outfit, complete with hat. She didn't look to be very old, maybe Cloud's age or a little older. He couldn't help but notice she was a good looking girl despite her age, and he cracked his award-winning grin.

"Yeah. I'm Zack. SOLDIER, 1st class." The girl looked at him with a deadpan expression and just made a "Hmm..." sound, not looking very impressed, which deflated Zack's ego a bit, but he couldn't help himself. "What?" he asked.

"Are there a lot of SOLDIER 1st classes?" she inquired.

"Nah, we're an elite group, only a few of us!" he responded brightly to her question.

"Um... is it only you two?" she then asked, looking at him with what Zack could have sworn to be a slightly hopeful expression.

"Yeah. Me and Sephiroth there," he replied to her, glancing back at Sephiroth, who was looking on with a blank expression... wait... was that a hint of a smirk on his face? Zack couldn't tell for sure, but it sure looked like it... He turned his attention back to Tifa, who looked at him with a blank expression of her own.

"I see..." was all she said as she turned and walked away.

Zack stood there a moment as he watched her leave without anything else said, then turned and walked towards Sephiroth. "Weird kid..." he grumbled. Sephiroth looked at him, still looking slightly amused, as he addressed Zack and the two MPs standing nearby.

"We'll begin our investigation of the reactor tomorrow morning. Today we'll be sleeping early, as we will be leaving at dawn. Everyone else," Sephiroth glanced at the two MPs, "you should sleep as well. Vigilance will be a priority."

The General then turned and opened the door to the Inn, paused, and glanced back at one of the MPs in particular. "Oh yes," he added. "You may visit your family and friends as well," then turned and entered the Inn.

Zack stood outside, and looked around. "Nibelheim, huh..." He glanced at Cloud (who seemed adamant about leaving that damn MP visor on...), and followed in after Sephiroth.

XXXXXXXXXX

Not seeing the General in the lobby, Zack decided to head up to the second floor. He spotted him standing at the window overlooking the town. "Whatcha lookin' at?" Zack asked, approaching the taller man. Sephiroth didn't say anything in reply for a moment, just choosing to continue to stare out the window like he was almost... possessed.

"...the scenery," he finally said.

"Huh?"

"The scenery. I feel... I feel as though I know it..."

Zack had nothing to say to that, as his superior continued to stare out the window as if in a trance...

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning at the crack of dawn, a sleepy-eyed Zack followed the much more crisp looking Sephiroth out of the inn into the town. The plan today was for them to meet the guide that would lead them up the tretcherous mountainside to the reactor, as there was no direct roads that lead there. What caught Zack off guard was the fact that none other than the girl in the cowgirl outfit, Tifa would be their guide.

"Tifa? You're the guide?" Zack exclaimed.

Tifa looked at him with a similar expression as she had yesterday. Sephiroth couldn't help but be more than a bit amused at this. He knew Zack was a "ladies man", and Tifa's attitude towards him could be what one would call 'icy' at best. He, of course, didn't show his amusement.

"That's right. I am. You have a problem with that?" she asked Zack, almost daring him to say he did. She had that look on her face that nearly *dared* him to say he had a problem.

Before Zack could reply, Tifa's father showed up and requested a photograph of his daughter with the famous SOLDIER 1st. Zack was the first to agree to the picture (Tifa's father couldn't have cared less if Zack was in the photo, he just wanted a picture with Sephiroth in it), but with Zack agreeing to it Sephiroth eventually agreed and stood alongside Tifa as well.

"Thanks, I'll send everyone a copy once I get it developed!" Tifa's father said brightly with camera in hand after he had snapped the photo. Tifa smiled at her father, then turned back towards Zack, smile vanishing instantly.

"You know I'm the best guide in the village right?" she demanded of Zack.

"It's going to be dangerous you know! There's monsters and who knows what else up there! You shouldn't be involved in something this dangerous!" he told Tifa, whose expression seemed to harden even further.

"It'll be fine if you protect her, you know," Sephiroth told Zack, who didn't seem to listen.

"You might end up getting injured by one of those things, or maybe even killed... uh... okaaaay then..."

Tifa had stopped listening to him and was already starting towards the entrance to the mountain trails, the MPs and Sephiroth behind her. Zack just sighed, slouched his shoulders and followed after them.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been a grueling few hours climbing Mt. Nibel. Zack had needed to use his Buster Sword more than a few times against the mutated creatures inhabiting the mountain. Every time he used it, he got a bit more depressed. Having to clean and care after Angeal's family sword was something Zack took very seriously, and much like Angeal he didn't like using it more than he had to.

They had already lost one of the MPs (not Cloud, thankfully) to a damaged rope bridge breaking further back, so it was no surprise he was more than a bit relieved when they finally arrived at the reactor. Tifa, it seemed, had the idea she was coming in as well, as she tried to follow Zack and Sephiroth up the ramp into the reactor.

"I wanna go inside too! I wanna see!" she protested.

Sephiroth turned and looked at the girl. "This area is restricted. The entire reactor is full of ShinRa industrial secrets."

"But!" Tifa complained, stomping her foot in agitation at Sephiroth's cool reply.

"Take care of the lady," Sephiroth said to the remaining MP, who nodded wordlessly and stood blocking Tifa's way into the reactor. Zack looked down at poor Cloud whom he thought was surely stressed out over being put in this situation, but just shook his head and followed Sephiroth inside.

The reactor was much smaller than the others Zack had been to during his time in SOLDIER, but it was still impressive. It had taken the two men several minutes to make it into a large room with several odd-looking pod devices, and a door at the top with the label "JENOVA" over the top of it.

"JENOVA... that's weird..." Zack said to himself as he tried punching in his access code to the keypad, which kept giving him a stubborn red light and obnoxious beeping noise. "The lock won't open... huh, wait a sec... Jenova?" Zack's thoughts seemed to be desperately grasping for some nagging feeling he had heard this name somewhere before Sephiroth's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"These appear to be the cause of the abnormalities in the reactor. This part is broken... Hmmm." Sephiroth seemed a bit confused as he turned to Zack, who was standing above. "Zack, come open this valve please."

Zack came down to do as the General had asked, but he noticed the taller man deep in thought. "Why is it broken...?" he heard Sephiroth say to himself, as Zack got to work on twisting the valve closed.

After finishing, Zack's curiousity got the best of him and he decided to look inside one of the pods. What was inside made his blood go cold. 'A ... monster?'

"This... this is...!" Zack exclaimed in shock.

Sephiroth turned to Zack with a knowing look in his cat-like eyes. "Yes. Normal SOLDIERs are just showered in mako as part of the process. You're different from most, but still human. These... these have a much higher concentration of mako compared to regular SOLDIERs."

Zack couldn't believe it. So these were once human? These... monsters? They were once human like him and Sephiroth?

"These aren't human... they're monsters... unbelievable," Zack breathed out in shock.

Sephiroth nodded. "Indeed. Hojo of ShinRa created them. He used mako energy to create unnatural living monsters like these..." He then seemed to drift off, with a look of near-shock on his normally calm face.

"A normal SOLDIER... what do you mean... Hey... hey, Sephiroth?" Zack's question was cut off by the disturbed look on the normally impassive General's face.

"It can't be... I'm... Was I created this way too? Are you telling me I'm a... I'm a monster like these... things?" Sephiroth said in an increasingly desperate tone.

"Hey, Seph, man... hold on..." Zack tried to calm down the agitated General, but was pushed away by the larger man. "Hey! What's the big idea?"

Sephiroth turned and looked at Zack with a nearly fearful look in his green eyes. "I could feel it... ever since I was a child. I always thought I had a special purpose. But... I didn't think it would be something like this... am I even... human?"

"No, unfortunately you aren't. You're a _monster_."

The voice from above both the SOLDIERs made both men turn sharply. What greeted them was a pair of large, deadly Firagas hurtling towards both of them. Instantly, Sephiroth's Masamune was out and completely deflected the large fireball. Zack was not so fortunate, but managed to roll through most of the spell's otherwise devestating effects. Still, it had done enough to disorient him.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed in recognition as he got a glimpse of the caster, but said nothing. A man in red, with a fiery red sword in one hand, book in the other, with a large black wing jutting out his shoulder.

Genesis Rhapsodos paid little heed to Sephiroth's gaze as he continued. "You were born out of the Jenova Project. You are the greatest monster of them all!" He looked down at Sephiroth with a grin as he spoke.

Zack's dazed eyes widened in shock as he laid prone against a nearby pod, holding his head. "Genesis! You were alive after all, even after all that!" he choked out. Genesis turned towards Zack with a laugh.

"In my current condition can you even say I am truly even... alive?" he spat back bitterly.

Indeed, Genesis looked nearly half-dead. Pale skin in places, it looked like he was truly not alive at all. The cause was the degredation of his molecular structure from the incompatibilities of all the testing that had been done to him in the Jenova Project.

"What does the Jenova Project have to do with me?" Sephiroth finally asked, his interest piqued.

"The Jenova Project is the name of an experiment," Genesis replied to Sephiroth then with a smug grin. "The project that used Jenova's cells."

"Using... Mother's cells?" Sephiroth asked, half to himself.

As Zack sat nearby regaining his bearings, listening to Genesis' words, alarm bells were going off in his head, and what his instinct was telling him made his blood run cold. Zack could _feel _something incredibly wrong was going on here, and he knew he needed to do something, and soon, as Genesis continued to addle Sephiroth with his words.

"Pitiful little Sephiroth... you've never even *met* your mother and the only thing you know of her is her name, is that right?" Genesis asked Sephiroth tauntingly. "I have no idea what she looks like... but what I do know..."

"GENESIS! That's enough!"

With Genesis distracted with his tirade, he didn't have enough time to block or dodge Zack's flying charge with his massive Buster Sword. The attack left a seeping gash in Genesis's side, and the winged man fell to the ground in shock.

"Ughhh... I was sure... I had hit you with that Firaga..." Genesis rasped.

"He's trying to confuse you, Seph!" Zack yelled back to Sephiroth without taking his eyes off Genesis. "Don't listen to this crazy lunatic! You aren't a monster, he is!"

"Ha... ha ha ha... he's right you know... I am a monster..." Genesis rasped out, as he shakily got to his feet, with Zack's sword pointed at his throat. He seemed to get a glazed look in his eye as he then spoke again.

_"My friend... do you fly away now?_

_To a world that abhors you and I?_

_All that awaits you is a somber morrow_

_No matter where the winds may blow..."_

With a pained smirk, Genesis then looked at Sephiroth, whose confused expression seemed a bit less prominent, and a somber expression replaced it. "_Loveless_... Act III..." the General said quietly.

"Hah. You remembered," Genesis grinned at Sephiroth. With a grimace, the winged man lifted off, and disappeared down the tunnel of the reactor.

"HEY! Come back here Genesis!" Zack yelled, but stopped and with a pained expression held his side. "Ugh... dammit... guess he nailed me better than I thought."

Zack turned and returned over to the silver-haired man, who still stood by the pods with his head down and a painful expression on his face. He put his hand on the General's shoulder and gave him what he hoped was a comforting smile.

"You aren't a monster, Seph."

XXXXXXXXXX

Revision Notes II (03/11/2012): Many thanks to reviewer CrimsonMoon667 for their helpful notes, as in my first lookthru I had missed some conversation breaks in paragraphs. I truly appreciate the feedback and hope you enjoy the story as it develops, and I'll be looking forward to your constructive reviews!

Revision Notes (03/07/2012): I've finally decided to give this story a thorough look-over after a few years and straighten out some minor inconsistencies and change some things that just made no sense so I can finally continue it. If you read it before up to Chapter 8 you don't have to reread it as the underlying plot hasn't changed, but even so you may wish to as I've cleaned up the formatting, corrected some grammar and spelling errors, and changed a few interactions to make them flow better and feel more natural, at least to me.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks to the folks who sent me feedback via PM and the review I got, I have a good idea where I falted in that first chapter, and hope to have a much more entertaining and gripping chapter for you this time :) And no, this is not Yaoi before I continue. I do have respect for it, it's just not my style to write it.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 2

As Zack followed Sephiroth out of the reactor, he couldn't help but feel more than a bit anxious from the reaction he had seen from the taller man earlier. Genesis' words clearly had made a serious impact on the General, but Zack couldn't tell for sure what exactly that was. All he knew for certain was that he had a bad feeling, and based on his history with bad feelings, he couldn't afford to ignore it.

As they swiftly exited the reactor, Sephiroth nearly passed the fallen MP outside with Tifa kneeling next to him. Only Zack's worried shout made the General stop short and turn back towards them.

"Hey Cl- hey, man, you okay?" Zack shouted and bolted towards his injured friend. He had almost slipped up and said the younger man's name out loud, but he remembered the blond's odd behavior since he had arrived in Nibelheim, and knew that Cloud probably didn't want anyone to know exactly who he was.

"Whoa man... you don't look too good... hold on a sec, okay?" Zack tried to comfort his friend, who appeared to had taken a blast from a fairly powerful spell (Thundara at least, Zack had guessed with a wince) and was sporting several burns and gashes in his blue uniform, with burns on the exposed skin as well. The SOLDIER pulled out the spare Cure materia he had stowed for emergencies and cast a few basic spells on the boy. It wasn't much, but with Zack having being clipped by a immensely powerful Firaga earlier, he wasn't in much condition to do much spellcasting himself.

Sephiroth, meanwhile, seemed to be staring at them with a look of barely masked impatience, but the swordmaster's thoughts were elsewhere. The words of his friend... no, could Genesis truly be called his friend now? His former colleague's words had taken a serious impact on his mental state of mind.

'He said "Jenova Project" didn't he...' Sephiroth thought with a mental frown. 'Mother... is there any connection between them? Am I... like him? Am I... a monster?' The thought sent a shiver down the normally stoic man's spine. The thought that he, the prodigy, the _hero_ of ShinRa was nothing more than an experiment cooked up in some lab was more than a bit disturbing to the man. Still, his childhood was anything but 'ordinary'. The fact he had spent much of his younger years cooped up in a lab, tested and prodded by that bastard Hojo... perhaps... perhaps there was merit to what Genesis had said... Sephiroth shook his head lightly and tried to focus on the matter at hand for now. He would need to think more on this later.

"We must move on. You can continue treating him once we reach town," Sephiroth announced, focusing on Zack's strained face, green materia in hand glowing feebly. Zack looked up, clearly not ready to quit yet, but obeyed anyway and put away the materia. He hadn't been able to accomplish much, but it was enough until they could get Cloud back to the inn and treat him properly. He wasn't exactly a pro with restorative materia as it was, and the stock mass-produced Cure he had wasn't very powerful to say the least. It would barely be sufficient to perform rudimentary first aid until they were able to get to the inn and seen by a doctor.

Sephiroth turned to Tifa. "You, help support the infantryman. We will cover you as we go down the mountain and defeat any monsters we come across," he added, nodding towards Zack. With that, he turned without any further words and began walking down the mountainside path, leaving the unfortunate trio to keep up with the General's brisk pace.

XXXXXXXXXX

The party arrived in Nibelheim a few hours after beginning their trek down the mountainside. It would have been easier if not for the fact Tifa was slowly helping the injured Cloud (still with helmet on) down the treacherous paths. Sephiroth had seemed to completely ignore the his three companions, blazing a trail of monster corpses in his wake with far more force than was necessary.

Zack had not been oblivious to the General's significant change in demeanor, and it scared the younger man a bit. He had never seen Sephiroth so... emotional before. To an outside observer like Tifa it would just seem like he was taking extra care to make sure the monsters were truly dead, but Zack knew better. The silver-haired man was ruthless, yes, but not to the extent of overkill he had displayed. It gave further evidence to Zack's theory that the red-headed Ex-SOLDIER's words had made a major, negative impact on the taller man's state of mind.

Upon entering the village, Sephiroth made a brisk line for the nearby inn, and entered several paces of the rest of the group. Zack decided to take over the care of Cloud from the now exhausted Tifa. "Hey Tifa, can you do me a favor real quick?" Zack asked her. "Can you ask around the village and see if anyone has spotted the man that attacked the infantryman? You know, with his red coat and hair he should be easy to spot..." Tifa looked back and nodded tiredly.

"Alright... I'll see if anyone's seen him," she agreed with a sigh. Tifa wanted nothing better than to go home and get cleaned up and sleep, but she knew the strange looking man with a bizarre wing sticking out of his back needed to be found for all their sakes. A man like that had to be dangerous.

Zack nodded his thanks to Tifa, and turned and took Cloud into the inn. He had noticed right away that the General's door was closed as he came upstairs, and he didn't notice him in the shared room Zack had with himself and, now just Cloud. He sat and treated Cloud's wounds as best he could with a combination of the Cure materia and various first-aid supplies. Deciding his friend would be fine for the moment until he could summon the doctor at the clinic to perform a more thorough job, he walked into the hall and knocked on the General's closed door.

"Hey, Seph? You in there?" Zack asked with a tinge of worry in his voice. When he heard no response, he tried the knob, but found it firmly locked. He knew it would be easy for him to break down the door, but he didn't want to have to face the brass back at ShinRa headquarters, asking him why he decided to break down the General's inn room door.

"Sephiroth? You in there?" Zack asked again, a little louder. He strained his ear against the door, and could hear what he thought was faint movement.

"Please, leave me alone."

The statement was said with finality, and was that a hint of defeat in the General's voice? Zack couldn't be sure. He knew better than to test the man's patience though.

"Alright, if you need us you know where we are." With that said, Zack returned to the room. He noticed Cloud was awake upon entering. He sat back down next to the boy and gave him a small smile. The blond, exhausted from the combination of infusion of mako energy from the healing properties of the Cure materia, the trip, and his injuries, appeared to try to speak. Zack gave him an encouraging smile, knowing what he was worried about.

"Tifa's okay, so ya don't have to worry, okay?" Zack told him.

Cloud looked relieved at that, but then after a moment looked up at him sadly. "If only I was a SOLDIER... like you..." he finally managed. The blond felt horrible that he couldn't stop the strange winged man. If only he were stronger, like Sephiroth... "Hey, Zack?" Cloud asked his friend, whose smile had vanished, and he looked at Cloud with dull eyes.

"SOLDIERs are like monsters, you know..." Zack said quietly, facing away from his friend as he said it. "Forget about it, okay?"

This got Cloud's attention. He had never heard his friend say such things before. Zack had never said anything but good things about SOLDIER. "What happened in there, Zack?"

Zack turned back to the blond again as he thought for a moment. "You know... I'm not really sure myself... but I plan to find out, and make it right." The dark haired man shook his head. He decided to change the subject to something lighter; brooding over it would get him nowhere.

"So... is Tifa an acquaintance of yours, Cloud?" Zack asked him.

Cloud's face immediately went blank. "Sort of, I guess," he replied.

"So... did you guys talk at all? You know... catch up and stuff?" the SOLDIER prodded. If Cloud did know the girl, they must have grown up together. They must have had lots to talk about outside that reactor. Besides, they seemed to be the same age, and he could tell she'd grow up to be quite the looker. Zack secretly envied his younger friend.

Silence greeted Zack for a moment before Cloud finally answered. "No."

Zack's frustration with the entire situation came back to the forefront upon hearing that simple word. He couldn't understand how Cloud wouldn't want to catch up with what he assumed could be a childhood friend. It... just didn't make sense. They could have died up there today, and for what?

"Look man, I don't know what's going on between you two but are you okay with just leaving it at that? I mean... in SOLDIER we do what we were trained to do. We fight! We leave the politics to the politicians, ya know? What should I be mad about? Who is really the enemy here? Who says who lives or dies? _None of that should matter_!" At the end Zack was nearly shouting, and breathing heavily with pent-up emotion. The frustration the man was feeling was undeniable.

Zack's tirade had seemed to change quickly from Cloud's odd behavior towards Tifa to his own misgivings. Through it all Cloud had a somber, thoughtful expression on his face, not focusing on Zack especially, but the massive weapon lying against the wall behind where Zack sat.

"Hey... Zack?" Cloud asked quietly. "I've never really seen you use that sword before... why don't you?"

The blond's quiet inquiry snapped Zack out of his emotional inner turmoil. Instead, he found himself thinking of his mentor's words to him several months earlier. Zack had asked Angeal the same question back then, after the older man had shielded him from a potentially deadly attack.

"_Yeah, if I use it, it'll get all worn, dirty and rusted. Now that would be a waste. But, you know what? Your life is more important than any sword. Well..._" Angeal had given Zack a grin at this point, teasing the younger man. "_Maybe just a little._"

"Never lose your dreams. Never lose your honor as a SOLDIER. This sword..." Zack looked fondly at the Buster Sword standing against the wall. "It's a symbol of my dreams and my honor. You know... I think I almost lost sight of both."

Zack turned and gave his friend a genuine smile. "Thanks, Cloud."

Cloud was quite confused by the older man's sudden change in mood. "Uhh.. you're welcome?" Still, he was happy that, whatever he had done, it had gotten Zack out of his weird mood.

Zack felt a new sense of mental clarity thanks to Cloud's seemingly innocent question, and he stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go get the doctor now, so you sit there and behave! I'll be right back in a jiffy!" With that, the SOLDIER 1st left for the local clinic.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning found Zack in much better spirits than the night before, although the General's door was still shut tight. He knew the older man would come out when he was good and ready to, so he decided not to disturb him. He had left Cloud behind in the room, who was still sleeping soundly. The village doctor had told him that thanks to his prompt first aid, Cloud would only need a few days of bed rest.

Once he reached the lobby, he noticed Tifa coming in the door with an urgent expression on her face. Once she spotted Zack, she came over to him quickly.

"I've heard news of the man you're looking for!" she told him hurriedly. This got Zack's attention immediately.

"What? Where!" Zack demanded.

"Several people said they spotted a man in red go into the old mansion at the edge of town," she explained in a rush.

"You mean the one ShinRa owns?" Zack asked her.

"Yeah, that's the place. We don't go near it because of all the weird rumors about it being haunted, but everyone was certain that's where he went!" she told him.

Zack's surprise turned into determination. "Alright, thanks a bunch Tifa, I owe ya one! We'll take over from here!" he said to her while bolting back up the stairs of the inn.

He ran to the General's door, but found said man standing in it, a fierce look in his eyes. "The mansion right? Let's go."

Zack didn't need any more encouragement, he followed Sephiroth's quick pace with equal fervor. Soon, they could find out exactly what the Ex-SOLDIER was planning...

XXXXXXXXXX

Revision Notes (03/07/2012): Some changes here. The opening scene was expanded upon and clarified, and the scene in the inn with Zack and Cloud was tweaked. In the original there was also no mention of the village doctor. It makes more sense for a unenhanced, stock produced Cure to not magically cure all of Cloud's injuries. After all, he was blasted by an Ex-SOLDIER General and survived. He's not just going to get a cure spell and sleep it off.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I just want to thank all my reviewers for their kind words, and also want to thank those who put my story on alert. You all inspire me to write this and I thank you for that. Just a quick side note… you are more than likely going to notice many characters start going a bit OOC as the story continues. I will try to keep them as "true-to-life" as I can, but in an AU like this some change is, of course, expected.

Disclaimer (that I forgot in Ch.2): I, of course, don't own any of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII works. If I did, I would be in a hot tub drinking margaritas right now.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 3

Sephiroth's night had been far from peaceful. The conflicted General had not slept at all, in fact. His thoughts had been scattered and confused. He had tried to sift through the information he had heard from Genesis before Zack had interrupted the poet's deranged tirade. One word had stood out among the rest, one word that had haunted the silver-haired man's dreams and waking thoughts for as long as he could remember. The name the rasping voice in his sleep had whispered to him over and over, night after night.

_Jenova. _The name of his mother.

Sephiroth had never actually met his mother. From what the deranged Professor Hojo had told him for as long as he could remember, his mother had died giving birth to him. As for his father… well. That was one thing Sephiroth was sure he would never know for certain. Still, he remembered the name in ominous lettering over the sealed doorway in that pod room in the reactor. The words the decaying, winged man named Genesis had told him. The Jenova Project. His mother. Was he really nothing more than the offspring of some experiment? Nothing more than a monster?

It was only when his mako-enhanced hearing picked up Zack's exclamation downstairs were his endless musings interrupted. He then heard the tour guide girl tell Zack something that removed any further scattering of thoughts from his mind. His clouded eyes sharpened quickly, and a look of resolve found its way onto his face.

"Genesis. I will find out the truth behind your words," he told himself.

As he unbolted and opened the door to his room, a clearly shaken Zack stood there with a look of urgency etched on his face. Sephiroth looked down at his young colleague.

"The mansion right? Let's go."

The General immediately exited the Inn with Zack hot on his heels. As they approached the mansion, Sephiroth's face grew grim with determination.

'I will find out what you are hiding from me, Genesis. I _must _find out what you are hiding…'

XXXXXXXXXX

As the SOLDIER duo entered the front gate of the ShinRa mansion, Zack recalled a few rumors he had heard of the eerie building as a recruit. How, for instance, secret experiments on captured citizens off the streets had been carried out there for years. Or, how an ex-Turk who had tried to assassinate President Shinra's young son had been caught and brutally experimented on before he was turned into a monster. Living dead inhabited dark catacombs beneath it, forgotten for decades. Just the thought sent goosebumps down the young SOLDIER 1st's arms.

"Zack, you search the foyer and first floor rooms. I'll search upstairs."

Zack's morbid thoughts were, thankfully, dispelled with the General's firm and authoritative tone. He nodded at his superior, who immediately started for one of the nearby halls. As Zack made his way through the maze of hallways, other than various furniture covered with white, dusty sheets, empty bookcases, and a lone grand piano in disrepair in the corner of a large hall, Zack found nothing remotely useful, or even any indication that any of the rooms had been disturbed in years. The mansion was by no means small, but after about 20 minutes of searching, he gave a large sigh.

"Geez, nothing but old furniture and lots of dust," Zack commented to himself, brushing the dust off his uniform and stifling a sneeze that awarded his efforts. "I wonder if Seph has had any better luck," the young man mused, heading back to the front foyer.

As he came back into the front foyer, he spotted the General headed down the staircase.

"Did you find anything?" Sephiroth asked.

"Nah… not a thing. Only old, dusty furniture. No sign of anyone, or anything, being in here in years," Zack told him.

Sephiroth's cat-like eyes narrowed. "He has to be here somewhere. I can feel it somehow. We must check again," he told the younger SOLDIER.

Zack was a bit surprised to hear Sephiroth going off a feeling of all things. He had always assumed that the head of the ShinRa army was cold and calculating, and didn't believe in such things as "going with a feeling." Obviously he had been proven wrong.

As he followed behind Sephiroth back into one of the second floor rooms, he noticed something he hadn't before in the corner. What looked to be a stone chimney in the wall had an odd, barely noticeable indentation in its side. He hurried over and put his hands carefully against the stone surface.

"Hey Sephiroth? I think this is a door… seems a bit odd to be a chimney don't you think?" Zack turned and asked the General, who was looking at him.

"Move aside." Sephiroth ordered. As Zack moved quickly out of the way, Sephiroth put his gloved hands firmly against the stone and pushed. Immediately, the door slid in and opened.

"Let's go," he told Zack, and swiftly began his descent into the hidden passage, as the black-haired man hurried after him.

The first thing Sephiroth noticed as he reached the bottom of the narrow passage was the undeniable stench of death and decay. He could also sense that they were indeed not alone in the cavern. Monsters, no doubt, leftover experiments. Sephiroth would bet on it if he were a betting sort of man. ShinRa would stoop to such horrible lows, he knew.

As the two cautiously ventured deeper, they noticed various thick, heavy wooden doors embedded into the rock. They both had little doubt that Genesis could be in any one of them.

"We will split up and examine these rooms one at a time. Keep on alert, there is more than just Genesis to worry about down here," Sephiroth told Zack..

"Right, we'll meet back here if we don't find anything. Sound good?" Zack asked the General.

"Very well. 30 minutes, not a minute more. We will return to this point at that time."

Zack immediately went to the left, while Sephiroth began checking the rooms on the right. Many of the doors were locked, but that didn't stop the duo. They veritably destroyed any locked door they came across in their search. The doors were old and rotten, so it didn't take much effort to get past them.

XXXXXXXXXX

25 minutes later, and Sephiroth's patience was beginning to wane. He had come across many disturbing rooms in his hunt for his old friend. Some had old dilapidated lab equipment in them with blood stains and rusted tables. Others had stacks of coffins. Still others had what looked to once have been living quarters, but even these seemed to have been torn apart and pillaged at one time. None, however, held any sign of being disturbed recently. And, the monsters. Several disturbing looking creatures vaguely resembling what could have been human at one time had blindly attacked the silver-haired man. They all held no real intellect, so it was effortless for him to carve through them easily. He had been right when he suspected these were abandoned experiments from who knows when. It was just like ShinRa to leave the waste behind from all their inhuman acts.

The General was still seriously considering leaving SOLDIER after this mission was over, even more so than before back when he had confided in Zack at Headquarters. He had heard and seen many disturbing things about the Company recently, and the end to the recent Wutai war was something that could have been avoided entirely. As he searched another room full of abandoned research equipment, he thought back to one of the only people he could call his friend, Angeal. What would he have done in this situation? After all, he was also what Sephiroth considered a friend of Genesis. No doubt he would have lectured the poet on honor and dreams, as he always did. Perhaps he could have shed some light on this whole problem. It was one of those rare times where Sephiroth genuinely missed the older man's counsel.

'He would have probably told me to do what I thought was right,' Sephiroth thought to himself as he idly skewered another monster that had tried to ambush him. 'He would have said for me to not forget my honor as a SOLDIER… nothing I have been doing has been very honorable. Nothing I ever do will be honorable if I am tied to... this.' Sephiroth's resolve tightened at that. Yes, once this Hell was over, he would resign from SOLDIER.

Even with these thoughts distracting him, the feeling tugging at Sephiroth's mind had not ceased. If anything, it had intensified when he had come down to this hidden basement. He somehow knew that Genesis was indeed down here somewhere. What frustrated the man was the fact he couldn't _find _him.

_Yet._

XXXXXXXXXX

Zack's search had been slightly more fruitful than the General's had been. He had also encountered many disturbing monsters in his search, many of which looked to be undead. He was not oblivious to the fact that at least one of the rumors surrounding this mansion appeared to actually be true. What had caught Zack's attention, though, was a door tucked away at the end of a hallway. That in itself wouldn't have really mattered if it wasn't for the light streaming from underneath, and the distinct sound of a muffled voice coming from beyond the closed door. Having little time until the rendezvous as it was, Zack decided to return as swiftly as he could while keeping quiet, so as not to alert the occupant of their presence in the cavern.

Upon arriving, he noticed Sephiroth there standing with a look of barely held patience. The taller man gave Zack a nearly withering glare, which made him flinch inwardly.

"You're late. Explain yourself, Fair." Sephiroth demanded of Zack.

"I got a good reason, I swear! Besides, I'm only like a minute late…" Zack's feeble excuse tapered off with the look Sephiroth then gave him. "No time for that now though, sir. I think I found him!"

Zack's statement immediately purged any irritation he had with the man. He knew Zack was rather impulsive, but he had come to trust the younger SOLDIER's judgment.

"Show me," he demanded.

Zack nodded quickly, and immediately headed back towards the closed door with a brisk pace. As they neared the door, they both began to walk with slower, more veiled steps without saying a word to each other. It was a SOLDIER's instinct from battle to react to a situation before it even happened, and that's what was happening here.

Sephiroth took the lead upon spotting the door, and walked slowly towards it with a narrowed gaze. He knew now, without a doubt, that Genesis was beyond this door. The feeling he had all this time was stronger than ever. It was almost as if it was… calling to him.

As his gloved hand turned the knob and swung the door open, his gaze focused instantly on the person beyond.

Genesis Rhapsodos, Ex-SOLDIER 1st class of ShinRa, sat on the floor, surrounded by various old tomes and texts. He held one particular book in his hand. No, it was not his usual LOVELESS, but something different. The red-haired man did not even appear to take notice of the General or Zack as they entered the room, completely on guard and weapons drawn as they stared down the poet.

"Are you finally ready to learn the truth, General Sephiroth?" Genesis's crisp voice suddenly announced as he put down the book, mako eyes rising to meet Sephiroth's. "Are you finally ready to learn _what _you really are? What _we _really are?"

"What I am is nothing like you!" Sephiroth replied strongly to Genesis. "I will not be fooled by your lies and delirious ramblings, Genesis!"

Genesis chuckled at Sephiroth's reply. "Delirious? Me? Oh no, my dear friend, I am seeing clearer than I ever have. Did you know that we are both the end product of a grand experiment?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "Explain yourself, Genesis."

Genesis's grin widened as his eyes turned to the book in his hands. "The Jenova Project! A grand experiment which took the genes of a creature discovered by the Ancients over 2000 years ago. From the first project, Project G, Angeal and myself were born! But… we were imperfect. We were born as monsters. Not you, Sephiroth! Oh no, you are different. You aren't cursed with the degradation that we are. You are the perfect monster!"

"Cut the crap, Genesis! Sephiroth is nothing like you!" Zack yelled at Genesis. "At least he's human, not like you!"

Genesis's gaze turned from the book and narrowed on Zack's angry one. "Human? Don't make me laugh, puppy. None of us are human. From the moment we are given that first treatments to be SOLDIER, we no longer are human. We are monsters!"

Genesis again turned towards the book he held. " '…an organism that was apparently found in a 2000 year old geological stratum. Professor Gast has named this organism "JENOVA"… X Year, X Month, X Day. JENOVA has been proven to be an Ancient…. X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova Project approved by ShinRa . Mako Reactor 1 approved for use in experiments.' You get it now, Sephiroth? You are the final product of the Jenova Project! The ultimate monster!"

" Who cares what happened in the past? You're insane Genesis!" Zack yelled at Genesis with even more anger, Buster Sword drawn and at the ready. "There's no way that he's what you say you are, Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth's hand came out then, and blocked Zack from charging the Ex-SOLDIER, but his gaze remained locked on Genesis. "It is true, I lived and grew up in a lab my entire childhood. Perhaps I am as you say I am, Genesis. Perhaps I am nothing more than a monster." Zack tried to interrupt him there, but Sephiroth held up a hand. "Perhaps I am a monster in body, yes. But you, you have embodied what it means to really be a monster, Genesis… if only Hollander could have done more for you…"

"I pity you, Genesis, for what you have become."

"Hahahaha. Hahahahahaha! She said you might say something like this, you know," Genesis said, looking at Sephiroth with pure mirth in his bright eyes.

"Who? Who said that?" Sephiroth demanded of him.

"The Goddess, of course," Genesis said matter-of-factly, as if it were common knowledge. "She said you might try to deny who you really are." The look on the man's face instantly changed then from mirth to something far darker.

"You are not worthy of the Goddess's blessings. You are not worthy to be Jenova's son. Only I will reap the gifts that only the Goddess can provide!" he announced bodly as he pulled out his beloved book.

_"My friend, the fates are cruel_

_There are no dreams, no honor remains_

_The arrow has left the bow of the Goddess_

_My soul, corrupted by vengeance_

_Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey_

_In my own salvation_

_And your eternal slumber"_

With that, Genesis stowed away his LOVELESS book once again, and sat back down. He picked up the tome he had been reading earlier, and ignored the pair completely.

Sephiroth meanwhile, had a look of pity on his face as he looked at the man he once called his friend. He was truly convinced now that the man's sanity had left him due to his illness, or some other factor. He would be foolish to believe anything the crazed man had to say now.

With that, he turned, and briskly left the room and the mansion, with a confused and flustered Zack following him closely. He would have the mansion watched and guarded, and get Genesis the help he needed called in from ShinRa Headquarters once they returned to town.

That decision would ultimately be Sephiroth's biggest mistake he had ever made.

XXXXXXXXXX

Revision Notes (03/07/2012): Not alot changed here, just some formatting and a couple of spelling mistakes. I removed a couple lines that didn't fit well, and reworded the ending to make it feel a bit better. Ultimately it actually seems to go better with the future chapters as you will see.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, most appreciated! I'm glad everyone enjoyed that third chapter. I apologize for not updating sooner, but I've been brainstorming various ideas for later on, as there will likely be a time jump fairly soon to the FF7 game. Some things will be staying canon, but some won't. You'll just have to see as it comes ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the compilation works.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 4

For the next week following the encounter at the mansion, Zack found himself becoming a bit bored. They had called in their status to Headquarters, and were told to keep an eye on Genesis without alerting him, as the Company was sending Professor Hojo and a group of SOLDIER bodyguards and doctors to retrieve the deranged man. Sephiroth had reluctantly agreed to the order, but regardless of Genesis's current frame of mind, he couldn't bring himself to simply hand over his old friend to the unethical scientist.

Zack was spending most of his off-time with Cloud, who was mostly recovered from his injuries now, but taking double shifts wasn't leaving him with much. Since Cloud was supposed to be on watch in the town, but was unable to physically, Zack had been volunteering to take over for the boy until he was fit to do so. It was a mind-numbingly boring job, Zack had to admit, and he had been spending most of his time doing "errands" for the townsfolk. On the upside, he had found a very useful (and rare) summoning materia in the village well thanks to a tip from one of the children. He had never used a summoning materia before, so he couldn't identify it off hand, and he knew that summoning was a spiritually draining and sometimes dangerous affair. Still, he planned to ask Sephiroth about it later. The General was famous for using powerful Summoning materia during the Wutai war as part of his battle strategies, so he was certain the older man could assist him with it.

Currently, Zack was returning to the inn after spending 6 hours patrolling the town and covertly checking on Genesis's status in the mansion. The poet hadn't left the basement library for the past week, and it appeared to the two SOLDIERs that he hadn't been sleeping either. Sephiroth had said that it was a clear sign of madness and perhaps the genetic illness Genesis was afflicted with was finally taking its toll on him. Zack had met Genesis before he had become mentally unstable, and even then the redheaded SOLDIER had been difficult to deal with. His obsession with LOVELESS was unlike anything he had ever seen, as Genesis was never without his leather-bound copy of the play. The Genesis holed up in the mansion basement, however, was nothing like the strong-willed man Zack had met.

Putting those thoughts aside, Zack trudged up the stairs, weary with fatigue from the long day. As he passed Sephiroth's room, he found the General's door open, with him inside. He appeared to be reading a book, but Zack couldn't recognize it from the cover, as it appeared to be blank.

"What ya reading?" Zack asked him as way of greeting.

Sephiroth looked up and nodded at Zack, then looked back at the book. "An intriguing book I found tucked away, hidden in a corner of an old bookshelf in the upstairs library." He paused, and then looked back up at Zack. "Are you familiar with the Ancients?"

"I remember taking a class during the Academy, I think we did something about them but I found the class too boring…" Zack admitted sheepishly, rubbing his head.

Sephiroth shook his head lightly with a small smirk. "Why am I not surprised…" he said quietly.

"Hey! The teacher was boring and talked funny. In my defense, if she was hot I would have actually paid attention!" Zack said with a joking tone, at which Sephiroth just shook his head again. "But anyways, what about the Ancients? They were around a long time ago right?"

"How perceptive of you, Fair." Sephiroth said with a slightly mocking tone, but then turned serious. "Also known as the Cetra, they were the caretakers of the Planet. They were able to draw upon the energy of the Planet and perform miracles without the use of materia. They lived in harmony with the Planet and all life upon it."

Zack whistled appreciatively. "Miracles, huh? And without materia… Geez, that's something… what happened to them anyway? If they were so powerful shouldn't they still be around now?"

"Indeed. According to this book, millennia ago a meteor fell from the sky. The Ancients found a creature within. This creature promised prosperity and good fortune to the Ancients. But instead… all they found was calamity."

Zack couldn't believe it. It sounded like a fairy tale. Aliens falling from the sky in meteors? Still, if the General was taking it seriously there must have been some truth to it. "Calamity?"

Sephiroth nodded, his green eyes shining. "Yes. The creature was immensely powerful. Once it had gained the trust of the Ancients, it infected them all with a sickness. It wiped out the entire Cetra race and disappeared."

"Wow… that's quite the story," Zack mused. "Did this alien thing have a name?"

Sephiroth shook his head as he looked back down at the book. "This book doesn't say. It just calls it the "Calamity from the Skies."

Zack nodded. It seemed a bit too far-fetched for the stoic General to accept at face value, yet here he was lecturing him on some ancient race that died out millennia ago by some alien. If he didn't know the man better, he'd think Sephiroth was playing games with him.

"This seems a bit too weird for you just to go with, sir. Why do ya seem to just believe what that book says?" Zack inquired.

Sephiroth's eyes grew somber. "It appears to be an early copy from one of Professor Gast's studies that he was performing years ago." Upon noticing Zack's confusion at the name, he elaborated. "Gast cared for me when I was very young. I remember him being a trustworthy and kind man, and I do not doubt his scientific genius. If this was indeed written by him, there must be merit to it," he explained.

Zack had noticed Sephiroth's change in mood upon the mention of this Professor Gast. It wasn't an angry, spiteful tone he took when talking about that greasy weirdo Hojo, but more of a… sad sort of aura. He decided to not inquire further about this Gast for now, and just accept what the General had told him and trust his judgment.

"Alright, I believe ya. If I might be excused now… a hot bath and bed are calling me," Zack nodded to the General, who put down the book and stood.

"Very well, I will perform a quick sweep of the area. Is Strife able to resume his duties yet?"

Sephiroth asked Zack. The doctor in the village had informed Cloud's commanding officers that it was hard to say exactly how long it would take for him to recover fully. Ultimately, the decision had been placed on Zack as to when he would return to active duty, as he was Cloud's direct superior.

"Yeah, he should be able to stand on duty tomorrow morning, he's been itching to get out anyway," Zack replied with a chuckle and a smile, recalling his friend's eagerness to get out of bed and back to work. "He's got spirit, that's for sure…"

Sephiroth nodded, accepting this as he headed downstairs. "Tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Fair."

XXXXXXXXXX

'So tired…'

This was the first thought that crossed Zack's mind as his body fought to regain consciousness. Ever since he had first gotten his SOLDIER mako treatments, it was easy for him to go on very little sleep. Strangely though, he felt much more tired than usual.

As he struggled to wake up, another thought crossed his mind.

'Ugh… and why is it so… hot?'

XXXXXXXXXX

Zack wasn't the only one having difficulty waking up. Sephiroth himself was feeling uncharacteristically lethargic, however his thought processes immediately became more alarmed at this realization. The man could feel the spiritual energy tugging at his synapses, making conscious thought difficult.

'A localized, highly focused sleep spell… an intruder!'

Sephiroth struggled as he fought the strong grip of the debilitating energy flooding his body. With a significant amount of mental strain, he managed to break the spell's hold on him. As awareness flooded his enhanced senses once more, his alarm increased as he noticed the abnormal air temperature, and the strong feeling pulling on his very instinct. It didn't take him long to realize what was going on. There was only one person with the mental skill to so thoroughly debilitate him with status magic.

"Genesis!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Zack had finally managed to break the hold of the sleep spell that had taken grip on him, although compared to Sephiroth it took him far longer to do so. As his own senses were restored, panic threatened to grip him as his eyes absorbed the scene before him out the window of the Inn.

Nibelheim was engulfed in flame.

As he charged out the sweltering room after quickly gathering his equipment, he nearly bowled into Sephiroth as the General himself was charging out of his own room, hand on the hilt of Masamune.

"Sephiroth, the town! What's going on?" Zack nearly yelled at the man.

As the two charged down the stairs through the smoke-filled lobby, Sephiroth had to shout back to be heard over the roar of the flames engulfing the town.

"Only one person is capable of this," he told the younger man.

Zack's eyes narrowed, and then widened again. "Wait, what about Cloud? He was on watch this morning!"

Sephiroth didn't pause as he charged into the town square, Masamune drawn. "Look for any survivors, including Strife. I will find Genesis!"

Zack separated from the General, squinting as he tried to look for anyone alive through the thick smoke and flames. As he began to charge into one flaming building, he nearly rammed into another person who was just coming out of it.

"Master Zangan!"

Zack had met the martial arts master while covering for Cloud's shift patrolling the town. He knew the old man was more than capable of taking care of himself.

"Master, have you seen my friend, the ShinRa infantryman?" he asked Zangan in a rush.

Zangan shook his head in sorrow. "No, my boy, I haven't. Most of the town was caught asleep. I fear very few have survived. We must keep looking! Look in that building over there!" Zangan turned and charged into the Item Shop, ignoring the searing heat of the flame.

Zack nodded and charged into another house. All that greeted him, however, was what once were human bodies, now burnt beyond recognition. As his panic grew for the safety of his friend, he heard coughing coming from a pile of smoldering wood.

Bolting quickly towards the sound, he began removing the large, blackened pieces of wood from the pile.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sephiroth's focus had been only on one thing and one thing only after breaking the effects of the Sleep spell that had been cast on the SOLDIERs. The feeling he was following now was nearly the same as the one he had felt back in the mansion, except it felt… different somehow. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be… more chaotic. All he knew for certain was if he followed it, he would find the being responsible for this massacre.

The height of the flames had reached unnatural proportions now, feeding off seemingly nothing. Sephiroth knew, however, that it was being fed by something far more controlled, as chaotic as it was. Nothing short of a mastered Hell Firaga materia channeled by a highly trained spellcaster could produce such an effect. Sephiroth had seen firsthand what these rare and deadly materia were capable of thanks to his experiences in the Wutai war. The Elite SOLDIER Materia Unit had been equipped with the then-experimental Hell series of modified elemental materia, and the results had been devastating and swift. Entire battalions of Wutai soldiers had been wiped out from the combined forces of just a few dedicated spellcasters wielding these unholy materia.

Among them had been SOLDIER 1st Class Genesis. Commander of the best Materia Unit in all of ShinRa.

Green eyes narrowed as he ran through the ungodly flame, seeing a form in the flames, dressed in the same deep red as the spell he was conjuring. His sword itself was bathed in it, and it was almost as if Genesis himself was, in form, nothing more than part of the flames.

As the madman skewered another ill fated villager who had been unfortunate enough not to die in his sleep but attempt to escape instead, he noticed Sephiroth's swift advance and turned towards him. The look in his maddened, mako eyes was unnerving in itself. The odd smile on his face painted the rest of the picture.

"_Ahhh_, Sephiroth. Have you finally come to your senses and decided to join me in my quest?" Genesis questioned the General.

Sephiroth regarded the man he had once called his friend with barely controlled fury. "Your quest? You mean this madness called genocide? Then no, Genesis. I have come to put an end to it!"

Genesis laughed lightly as he walked through the flame, it seemingly have no effect on the man as he passed through it carelessly. "Genocide? Oh no, my dear Sephiroth. This is not genocide. This is cleansing the Planet of those who have tainted it! Such is the will of the Goddess, you see. She has spoken to me, and as a her most faithful servant…" Genesis raised his arms to the sky as he spoke, "I humbly obey. Only then will I be worthy of her blessing!"

Sephiroth raised Masamune in a defensive posture as he spoke, green eyes blazing with a light not from the ungodly flames that surrounded them, but from his barely controlled emotion. "The Goddess? You speak in riddles, Genesis, far more than you always have! You believe the GODDESS has commissioned you to do this? You are far more gone than I have given you credit for," Sephiroth hissed at Genesis, whose eyes narrowed in displeasure. "Your obsession with your… _play_… has gone too far!"

"NO! You don't hear her? You do not hear the sweet call of the Goddess?" Genesis yelled at the man, eyes in near disbelief. "You were her Chosen One! The savior of the Planet, the one who would become One with the Planet itself! You and I, together!" Genesis's eyes then turned into a smoldering look bordering hatred. "You really must not be worthy of her blessing then! You turn your back on your destiny! You are worth no more than the scum who burn here now!"

Instantly, the black wing sprouted from Genesis's shoulder, and he took flight, narrowly dodging a flurry of attacks from Sephiroth's sudden offensive. He smirked as he stared down at the enraged General surrounded by the unnatural flame.

"If you wish to put an end to my crusade, you will know where to find me. Know this, dear Sephiroth. The Goddess has found you unworthy of her love. You will not be able to best me, _old friend._" Genesis spat out the last bit as if it put a bad taste in his mouth as he swiftly took to the air and vanished into the dark smoke blanketing the sky.

Sephiroth could do nothing but watch, resolve etched in his features. 'We will see who is "worthy", Genesis,' he thought. ' And I am glad it is not I. To become what you are… I truly pity the monster you have become.'

XXXXXXXXXX

Zack had managed to get the burned remains off his friend, and after some quick battle first-aid with his Cure materia, Cloud seemed no worse for the wear, physically at least. The blond was clearly in shock seeing his home in flames however, and was in a daze, eyes focused on one section of the burning town. Zack knew what Cloud was looking at, but couldn't find the words to comfort his friend. He resigned himself to trying to search for any survivors in places he and Zangan hadn't searched yet.

As Zack was combing through a collapsed building as best he could, the flames seemed to unnaturally decrease in size around him until in a matter of seconds they were nothing more than a smolder. Zack had sensed the feeling of spiritual energy feeding the flames, but the sight of the flames virtually disappearing around him in seconds solidified that theory. It was obvious someone had been fueling the fire with what was most likely materia. He also had a good idea who was responsible.

"Zack, we must go immediately!"

The voice of Sephiroth was heard from the town square, and Zack hurried out of the rubble to meet his commander.

"Did you find Genesis?" Zack asked the man, who nodded gravely.

"Yes, we must pursue him. He was the one channeling the flame that has consumed the town. He was headed into the mountains, likely to the reactor. We go at once!"

"Alright, but what about Cloud?" Zack asked the General. Cloud was sitting in a daze in the smoldering square, eyes unfocused and unseeing. Sephiroth looked briefly at the blond infantryman, then back to Zack.

"It is regrettable what has happened, but he is in no condition to assist us. We leave him here," he told Zack. "After we apprehend… or defeat Genesis, we will return for him."

Zack felt a great deal of sorrow for his friend's situation, but knew if they didn't put an end to Genesis's ambitions, Nibelheim wouldn't be the last casualty to his madness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time after the two SOLDIERs had left, Cloud's stormy eyes gained some focus. He turned silently, looking past the smoking ruins of the town towards the mountains.

"…Tifa?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Revision Notes {03/08/2012): This chapter didn't require much work at all, just a few words changed here or there. I mostly elaborated more on Genesis's true masterful skill with materia throughout the chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 5

Their charge into the Nibelheim mountain range was set at a feverish pace, dictated by Sephiroth. Ever since their encounter in the flames of the town, he was having a difficult time keeping a rein on his emotions, a problem the man was in no way familiar with. His one-time friend's words, as maddened and senseless as they were, seemed to strike a vibe with him somewhere deep in his very being. It was as if all the chaos and discord that Genesis had wrought made some sort of sick sense to him somehow. That very thought deeply disturbed him.

He knew that this feeling that drew him towards Genesis was related to all those years spent in Hojo's laboratories somehow. Until he knew exactly why, however, he would not let his emotions compromise his sense of duty, even if that duty was to kill his once best friend, and even if that duty was to the company he so despised for placing them in this very situation to begin with.

The murderers that had condemned his best friend Angeal Hewley to a painful demise. The butchers that were condemning his only other friend, Genesis Rhapsodos, to the same fate. The ones who had turned them all into something less than human, 'Even me, it seems,' he thought grimly as he ran through the mountain trails, not slowing once in his pace.

ShinRa Electric Company.

ShinRa would pay for their crimes. He just wouldn't go to the extremes that Genesis's troubled mind had come up with. Answering mass murder of innocents with mass murder of more innocents was not what a sane man would have done.

No, he would need a more subtle, yet direct approach. He would need time to think, and time to plan his strategy. For now, though, he needed to focus his thoughts on what lay ahead.

And that was no easy task, even for the stoic General.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tifa Lockhart's frantic journey up the mountain had not been an easy one. Coupled with the destruction of her town and the fact that she had spotted her father headed towards the reactor himself to likely confront the red winged monster who had done this to them, her emotions were far from stable. She had almost been impaled more than once by the avian monsters inhabiting the mountain that had seen her as an easy target. Thanks to her training from Master Zangan, she had been able to dispatch the fiends without too much difficulty with her inner turmoil fueling her strength. The adrenaline was starting to wear off for the 16 year old, however, and she was not ideally equipped for martial arts combat as it was, as she was wearing her hiking equipment that she had worn a week ago when she had guided the Shin-Ra SOLDIERs up the mountain.

Shin-Ra. The immoral company that had done this to them, she was certain of. She hadn't cared for the company before this. She knew they did strange things from the whispers she heard from the other townsfolk. There were weird rumors about strange screams coming from the mansion, or horrible beasts coming from the depths of the Nibelheim Reactor. She didn't have proof, but somehow deep inside, she knew.

Shin-Ra was responsible for all of this. The very thought fueled her anger and her drive to catch up to her father and confront the madman.

Her fury-fuelled rush came to its climax when she reached the final knoll before the reactor. As she made the final charge and came into view of the reactor entrance, she could tell immediately things were not as they should be. The thick metal doors were literally ripped off their hinges and tossed aside like they were nothing, and there was an eerie sense of foreboding that made the hairs on the back of the girl's neck stand on end. The feeling of dread returned full-force to the pit of her stomach, and she knew she had to hurry. Her father was no fighter, and he was in danger…

As she entered the reactor, what she saw sent chills down her spine. Blood was streaked down the path inside the reactor towards a ladder leading down. She had a feeling she knew whose blood it was...

Once reaching the bottom of the long ladder, the sight before her ripped her heart apart.

Her father lay motionless on the catwalk floor, lifeless eyes staring at nothing. His body and clothing was burnt and charred, and there were visible holes where a weapon had stabbed clean through.

Her father was dead.

Her grief and horror turned into an uncontrolled frenzy at the sight. Gritting her teeth and balling her fists, she charged into the room ahead past her father's corpse. She would find the freak who did this to her and her town, and she would kill him! Her irrational mind couldn't seem to process the fact that the same man was in all likelihood far too powerful for her to confront, but the grief, anger, and sadness had stolen what was left of her mind's process.

Entering the pod chamber, the sight of Genesis staring at the locked door at the top of the staircase broke what little sanity the poor girl had left.

"YOU! You did this! You killed my father! You killed them all!" Her primal scream was released with unbridled despair and anger, and tears now streamed down her face as she stared down the ex-SOLDIER.

Genesis himself had been calmly staring down the door to the JENOVA chamber, trying to figure out exactly how to enter it and fulfill his mission. The brunette's scream had, once again, interrupted his thoughts. Twice now he had been interrupted by the remnants of the cleansed town, and again he would have to silence the disturbance.

The disturbed man turned and looked down at the anguished girl, and gave her a genuine smile. "Ah yes, you mean the cleansing of the tainted. It is but the will of the Goddess herself," he told Tifa, the smile never leaving his face as he spoke.

These words did nothing but fuel her incensed rage further as she took a sloppy fighting stance and began to charge at Genesis. "I'll never forgive you, monster!" she howled at the man as she ran towards him.

Genesis's smile never left his face as he looked down on her with a look bordering on pity as he shook his head and drew his beloved rapier. "_Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return_," he quoted quietly as he watched the quickly approaching martial artist. "_To spare the sands, the seas, the skies, I offer thee this silent sacrifice…_"

XXXXXXXXXX

The two SOLDIERs arrived at the Reactor shortly after Tifa had. Zack had spotted the girl a couple kilometers ahead with his keen sight, and had relayed this information to the General.

"She runs to meet her death," Sephiroth said grimly as he picked up the pace further, Zack hot on his heels. "Genesis will not spare her."

"Yeah… I know," Zack replied, with his face twisted into a determined frown. "We can't let that crazy bastard hurt anyone else!"

Sephiroth nodded at the younger man's passionate words. "Indeed. We must put an end to his insanity before it is too late," he responded.

With their pace quickened to near-inhuman speeds, the two were able to enter the reactor just dozens of meters behind the girl.

As they made their way through the catwalks, they noticed the blood streaked along the floor. "Seph… you don't think that's … Tifa's, is it?" he inquired of the general fearfully. Sephiroth leaned down and examined the floor quickly with a gloved hand and then shook his head.

"No, it is unlikely. It is over an hour old now, at least," the General told Zack. "We must hurry if we are to save her," he added as they advanced and slid down the nearby ladder at a near-suicidal speed.

Upon reaching the bottom, their run towards the Pod Chamber was interrupted by the anguished scream that came from beyond. Zack's eyes widened fearfully as he somehow increased his pace further.

"_Tifa!_"

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, a solitary figure was slowly making its way up the mountainside. The figure was dressed in Shin-Ra army gear, but was missing its helmet. The blonde-haired MP was making his way towards one place.

The Nibelheim reactor.

Cloud just hoped he wasn't too late.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sephiroth and Zack's entry into the reactor's Pod Chamber found them rushing towards a fallen Tifa. Zack's eyes widened when he saw the injuries the girl had sustained.

"Tifa! Gods… what has he done to you?" Zack breathed as he kneeled down before her.

She looked up weakly, first at Zack, then Sephiroth who was also staring at her.

"That monster… he… killed everyone…, " she whispered painfully. "Shin-Ra… SOLDIER… you are all monsters…"

As the girl lost consciousness after those words, the General's eyes grew dim. The dying girl's statement had struck deep within his soul somewhere. SOLDIER were monsters.

"There is little we can do for her at this moment," he told Zack, who was frantically shoving the contents of his only X-Potion down the girl's throat. "We must pursue Genesis and put an end to this now. Let the medicine do its job. If she has the will to live, it will be adequate for the time being." Sephiroth's expression softened slightly with the sorrowful look Zack gave him.

"Ugh! Hold on, Tifa… we'll be back for you…" Zack promised the girl, whose dire wound appeared to be responding to the potent healing medicine. He then followed the General's charge up the staircase towards the now opened door at the top. He didn't have a good feeling about what was ahead, as if something… unnatural lurked beyond. Whatever it was, Zack figured, it was nothing good if Genesis was interested in it.

It turns out Zack's bad feeling was justified. What lay beyond was like something he would conjure up in a weird nightmare. Genesis stood, back to the two men, gazing at the large bust of what appeared to be a woman, but he couldn't be sure. Dozens upon dozens of wires and tubes streamed out from the strange machine and snaked all throughout the room into the walls and floor. It appeared to Zack that Genesis was completely enraptured by the odd looking woman-thing.

Sephiroth had immediately taken note of his surroundings, but had spotted the plaque above the machine before anything else. The word above made his blood run cold.

It read "Jenova".

'What… is this?' Sephiroth wondered in shock. The odd pull on his consciousness he had been feeling was stronger than it had ever been right now, and it appeared to be coming from the woman-shaped machine. It felt as though the machine… woman… _monster_ ahead was trying to pull his very mind apart. The very feeling was incredibly distracting and was threatening to completely break his focus.

"Ah… the false son has arrived."

Genesis turned and gazed down at Sephiroth with a look of disdain. "You have been tried, and found unworthy, dear Sephiroth. '_Wings stripped away, the end is nigh!_'"

With Sephiroth fending off the mental assault from Jenova, he was barely able to block the impossibly quick strike of Genesis's Rapier with Masamune. As Genesis began a vicious striking assault on the weakened General, he simultaneously cast a powerful Energy spell at the off-guard Zack. The result was instantaneous and devastating.

The force of the near-instant cast Energy blew Zack clear out of the Jenova chamber. He landed dangerously hard against the back of a broken pod, smashing it. The impact, coupled with the brute-force and sheer velocity of the spell, severely injured the SOLDIER 1st to the point of knocking him unconscious instantly.

Meanwhile, Genesis's constant and powerful assault on Sephiroth had forced the General into a retreat to the lower portions of the reactor, near the primary mako tank. Genesis had been in no hurry to pursue him, it seemed, and was lazily floating down to the transparent platform, where Sephiroth stood in a defensive stance, eyes blazing.

"It is truly a shame, you know," Genesis told the General matter-of-factly. "If only you were not so stubborn. You could have had the power of the Goddess, but you chose to… so foolishly decline such a generous offer!"

When Sephiroth said nothing, Genesis's eyes seemed to gleam with an unholy aura. "You threw away the gifts of Mother! So generous and wise is she, yet you turn her away! No no no, no longer, my dear Sephiroth. You are no longer worthy of such a gift!"

Genesis's Rapier began to burn with an unholy blaze of green-red fire as he continued to preach to the silent General. "I have been chosen as the Goddess's Sword! I will cleanse this tainted planet with the true Gift of the Goddess! Mother… Jenova… will be the savior of Gaia!"

"_Enough!"_

Sephiroth's booming voice silenced the mad poet's rants. He took an offensive stance with Masamune and looked Genesis in the eye with a venomous gaze. "Gift? Savior of Gaia? You truly are mad, Genesis. You say this creature will be our _savior_? I can feel the monster's true intent, even as it whispers in my mind now, and it is NOT to save!" Sephiroth's eyes blazed with a mako fury.

"It is to destroy! This… thing… cannot be my mother, nor is it yours. It has destroyed your mind! It is preying on your weaknesses, Genesis. I can see now you are truly maddened by this unholy creature. You must resist it! You are stronger than this!"

Genesis's cackling laughter interrupted Sephiroth's last ditch effort to try to find a remnant of his friend's being inside the shell that remained. He knew it was futile, but for some reason felt compelled to try. He shook his head and readied himself.

"I am sorry, Genesis. You are no longer the man I called my friend."

With those words said, Sephiroth lunged at Genesis at inhuman speed. He jumped into the air and came down, crashing towards Genesis with his Hell's Gate technique. Genesis saw this coming and was able to dodge out of the way, albeit barely. He retaliated with a quick-casted Firaga, which Sephiroth was able to deflect with his katana, the spell crashing into the wall of the reinforced reactor and exploding in a dazzling display of fiery hell. Sephiroth returned the spell with a Thundaga of his own, eyes glowing yellowish-green as the mako energy surged through him and out his palm towards Genesis at impossible speeds.

"You know better than to wage a war of materia with me, Sephiroth," Genesis chided the General as if he were speaking to a child, MBarrier glowing in a bright green around him absorbing the Thundaga completely. "It is a battle you cannot win."

Sephiroth changed stances slightly. "Do not lecture me, traitor," he responded coldly, as he sent waves of energy from Masamune with his powerful Godspeed technique. Genesis, of course, knew the power of this, as he had seen it destroy a simulated version of the prototype Mako Cannon in Junon. He dodged and weaved with a fervor even a SOLDIER 1st would be envious of, as Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and followed up the previous attack with his signature technique, Octaslash.

Sephiroth had never once truly unleashed his top-level technique in a sparring session with anyone for good reason. The combination of pure force and speed was a lethal combination, even with a blunted weapon, and no person had ever faced it and survived. How Genesis was able to parry and dodge even this, Sephiroth could not fathom. No one had ever been able to completely negate the attack. He realized that he was experiencing something he rarely felt.

_Fear._

The creature was obviously augmenting Genesis's already impressive combat prowess with strange, unholy ability. As Sephiroth deftly deflected an abnormally large Blizzaga aimed at his vital organs, he attempted to find a weakness in Genesis's movements.

He found none.

As Genesis began a quick barrage of powerful blows aimed at his weakest points, Sephiroth attempted to turn the tide to his favor. As the flurry continued, he turned one of the blows into a counter of his own, his specialized Scintilla technique, designed to counter and catch the opponent off guard with a swift and lethal blow.

Yet, Genesis was somehow able to, at the last second, conjure a powerful Barrier spell, which completely absorbed the force of the General's deathblow into nothing.

"You know, Sephiroth… at one time that little move of yours would have completely finished me," Genesis told the stunned man with a smirk as the Barrier around him shimmered in an abnormally bright blue glow and dissipated. "The Goddess smiles on me this day, and I shall not disappoint."

The spell that followed was too quick to dodge, too powerful to block. Sephiroth had seen it used a few times during the war, but this was on a whole new level.

Genesis's unique Apocalypse materia. A hybrid materia that only Genesis himself had been able to use successfully.

The explosion and concussive force was able to blow through the General's guard completely. He lost his grip on Masamune, which was sent flying far out of sight and out of reach. The only way he had been able to survive the dark energy was by casting a desperate Wall spell on himself, which was only able to absorb a portion of the damage. It had not been enough.

As the General lay coughing blood onto the cracked platform, Genesis slowly walked towards him with a serene smile on his face.

"I always knew I was the most talented of our odd trio," he told the injured Sephiroth with a laugh. "Unlike you, I have always appreciated the Goddess's wisdom and power, while you looked down upon it. Yet it is I who stands victorious this day."

Sephiroth looked at Genesis with fury in his eyes, but could do nothing. His injuries were far beyond anything he had ever experienced, and knew he would be unable to defend himself with materia, as his spiritual energy was severely drained.

"_There is no hate, only joy_

_For you are beloved by the goddess_

_Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds_"

Genesis looked down at Sephiroth then, and conjured an orb of black fire in his palm, as he continued to quote Loveless.

"_Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul_

_Pride is lost_

_Wings stripped away, the end is nigh_"

He looked down at Sephiroth then, and smiled as he spoke and aimed the black, fiery energy at Sephiroth's chest.

"_Loveless_, Act II."

The instant Genesis released the spell, it sent Sephiroth rocketing through the walls of the reactor with impossible force. The reactors walls themselves were several feet thick, yet the

impact coupled with the unholy energy of the spell burned through it like a knife through butter.

As he watched, Genesis smirked.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Zack felt upon regaining consciousness was the searing pain throughout his body. He vaguely recalled seeing Sephiroth being attacked by Genesis, but after that all he could remember was impossible pain and then nothing. As he looked down at the front of his battered SOLDIER 1st uniform, he could tell he had been the victim of a powerful spell. Whatever it was, it had been strong enough to completely take him out of the picture. If it hadn't been for the supportive materia he had latched into his belt that absorbed negative spiritual energy, he knew he would probably be dead right now. The fact he was still even now barely able to move was a testament to the sheer power of the spell he had been hit with.

As he groaned and failed to move his legs (Zack figured they were broken), he heard the beating of a wing, and spotted Genesis gliding towards him.

"Ah, look what we have here. A poor lost puppy," Genesis said in a childish, mocking tone. "A lost puppy that has lost its way. One that has no place in the Goddess's world." As he looked over Zack, he knew the man would not live, and he smirked. "Drown in your pain, and wallow in your sins as you die," he told Zack, and turned his back to him, returning to the Jenova chamber.

As Zack lay in his broken state, he soon heard movement behind him, and then a voice.

"Tifa!"

"You came for me… you said you would… when I was in trouble…"

Zack's eyes widened. He recognized that voice. It was Cloud!

"Hey… Cloud…! Ya there, man?" he yelled hoarsely.

"…Zack?"

Cloud started when he saw Zack's broken frame. "Oh gods Zack… what did they do to you? What did they do to Tifa…" he whispered as he ran towards his best friend and leaned next to him.

"Listen Cloud… my sword… it landed over there next to a pod," he told Cloud weakly, motioning his head towards the fallen Buster Sword. "You need to take out this madman once and for all!"

Cloud followed Zack's gaze and saw the Buster Sword and nodded grimly. "I'll try…" he said unsurely to his friend. "I've never used a sword that big before…"

Zack closed his eyes. "I have faith in ya, Cloud," he told his friend.

Cloud picked up the hefty sword with a good amount of difficulty, but thanks to the adrenaline rushing through his veins he was able to support the unwieldy weapon as he ran into the Jenova chamber.

As he entered the chamber, he saw the red-headed ex-SOLDIER staring at an impossibly long weapon lying haphazardly against the wall of the chamber, his own sword in hand. Completely distracted by Sephiroth's lost weapon, he was unable to react in time as Cloud held the hilt of the Buster Sword like a baseball bat and swung at Genesis's prone form, opening a grave wound in the older man.

"Ughh…. What… is this…" Genesis croaked in disbelief, losing his grip on Rapier as it fell into the depths of the reactor below.

"That was for my mom. That was for my village and for Tifa!" Cloud yelled at the gravely injured madman. The blond then turned and dragged the Buster Sword back into the Pod chamber, and made his way to check on Tifa.

With the help of a borrowed Cure materia from Zack, Cloud had been able to patch up Tifa and Zack to a relatively stable state. Zangan had arrived shortly after Cloud had impaled Genesis in the Jenova chamber, and had swiftly taken Tifa away to be cared for. Shortly thereafter, though, as Cloud was continuing to mend Zack, the sound of scraping metal made their heads snap towards the Jenova chamber doorway.

Genesis stood there, bathed in his own blood. In one hand he held Sephiroth's beloved Masamune, its edge scraping against the metal floor of the reactor. In the other, he held what could only be described as a person's severed head, with wires and tubes sticking out of it.

"You… could not hope… to defeat me…" Genesis growled towards Cloud and Zack. "I am a monster, a monster destined to cleanse this Planet, and no mere _boy _can stop me."

Zack urgently looked at Cloud. "You gotta finish him now, Cloud!" he hissed to the blond, who nodded and hefted up the Buster Sword again in an awkward stance as he charged towards Genesis's injured form.

Genesis was able to get Sephiroth's Masamune up in time to parry the unskilled blow, but he himself had never been able to properly wield the weapon himself. The legend that said only Sephiroth could wield the immense weapon was more fact than fiction, as both he and Angeal had tried on numerous occasions to wield the long, awkward weapon with very little success.

The impact of the blow sent him staggering back into the Jenova chamber, Cloud in pursuit.

As Cloud raised the large broadsword for another strike, Genesis was able to get the Masamune to strike first. He impaled Cloud clean through with the long weapon, and the blond dropped the Buster Sword in shock and pain.

"_Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return…_" Genesis rasped at the impaled boy. The blond's head hung limply on his frame, which made the injured ex-SOLDIER grin. What happened afterwards, however, he was not prepared for.

Cloud suddenly in a last ditch effort, managed to put pressure on the blade of the Masamune, and planted his feet on the catwalk of the chamber. Genesis's prone frame was held up in the air as he held onto the hilt of Masamune vainly.

"Where… where do you find… such strength…!" Genesis demanded of Cloud, whose pained eyes shone with fury and some other emotion he could not identify.

The shock of this was so great that Genesis was unable to prevent the young man from literally flinging the sword out of his abdomen and launch it, along with the madman, into the depths of the reactor below.

As he collapsed from the injury of the Masamune impaling him, coupled with the adrenaline surge wearing off, Cloud managed to drag his body to his friend, who still lay against the back of the broken pod he had landed against.

"I… did it…" he whispered to Zack before falling unconscious.

Zack turned with a tired gaze to his injured friend. "Ya did good, Spikey. Ya did good…"

As unconsciousness began to take hold again, Zack could hear an odd voice, and many footsteps coming towards him and Cloud.

"Well well well. What do we have here?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Revision Notes (03/10/2012): I had considered changing Genesis's demise at the hands of Cloud to something different from Sephiroth's in canon, but there was something 'poetic' about it. Genesis prides himself on being a poet after all...

Not alot of work was needed on this chapter either. Only 3 chapters left until I start releasing the newest material to this story. Reviews would be most helpful!


	6. Chapter 6

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 6

The charge up the ShinRa Corporate Tower had been a long and hard-fought one. Lead by the ex-SOLDIER 1st Class Cloud Strife, the members of AVALANCHE had managed to infiltrate the headquarters of the most dominant company on the planet nearly to perfection. After having successfully rescued Aerith and a strange lion-like creature dubbed Red XIII, they had been unceremoniously pinned in an elevator by Rude and Tseng of the Turks. Upon meeting President Shinra himself, they had been drugged and thrown in the high-security holding cells, where they were cooped up now.

Cloud Strife found himself gazing at the groggy form of Tifa across from him as he sat on the floor of the cell opposite the cot she sat on. Whatever drug they had used on them had to be powerful, Cloud mused. SOLDIERs were inherently resistant to many forms of chemicals, and whatever the guards had injected him with had worked very well. The fact he had woken up long before Tifa made the blond think they may have used the same one on the rest of AVALANCHE too.

"Hey, Cloud?"

He looked over at Tifa, who was whispering to him. "You think we can get out?"

Cloud shrugged. "Kinda hard, I'd think. ShinRa knows how to build these cells."

Tifa looked a bit dejected but gave him a small smile. "Don't give up, okay?"

Cloud nodded slightly to her, and stood. He could hear what sounded like the deep baritones of Barret and the lion-animal Red XIII conversing in the next cell over. After a few moments, he decided to call to them.

"Hey. Is Aerith with you two?" he asked loudly.

"Yea, she's sleepin' though," the voice of Barret answered back beyond the wall. "Teef in there with you, Spike?"

"I'm here, Barret," Tifa called out tiredly.

"You doin' okay?" Barret asked her with what sounded like worry in his gruff voice. "That spiky haired bastard ain't doin' nothin' funny to ya is he?"

Tifa laughed quietly at Barret's crude remarks as she saw Cloud's slightly hurt look on his face.

"No, no Barret. He's behaving himself."

"Good," she heard him reply with a grumbling tone as the cell opposite to the pair grew quiet again.

As a fresh wave of fatigue washed over the brunette brawler, she looked over at Cloud as she slipped back into slumber. 'I'm counting on you, Cloud…'

XXXXXXXXXX

Drifting out once again of the no-doubt drug induced slumber he had been under, Cloud opened his eyes some hours later. He immediately felt an odd chill which hastened his return to awareness. As he stood up, he noticed the door to the cell was partially opened.

'The door's open? When did it open?' he thought, on alert. 'The power seems to be cut… I think I can slide this open…'

The blond managed (with some effort) to slide the thick cell door open the rest of the way and step outside warily, senses alert for danger. What he saw next sent chills down his spine.

A ShinRa security guard lay motionless in a pool of his own blood, slouched against the wall opposite their cell. Further down the corridor he saw the rest of the guards had met a similar fate.

"What happened here…?" he asked out loud. With a newfound sense of urgency, the blond ex-SOLDIER returned to his cell.

"Tifa! Tifa, wake up!" he called urgently to the sleeping brunette.

"Huh? Cloud, what's wrong?" she asked sleepily, and then noticed the open door. "The door… what happened?

Cloud motioned beyond. "Look for yourself. Seems like we have an unexpected ally," he mused. "The guards are all dead."

"What? Who could have done this?" she cried out in shock and horror upon seeing the display in the corridor. Cloud just shook his head.

"I don't know, but we can't take any chances and stick around. Whoever… or whatever did this might not be friendly." Cloud walked over to the next cell where Barret, Red and Aerith were.

"Tifa, come help me open this. The power seems to be completely out and the backup generators aren't working, so the magnetic seal on this door should be off."

As the pair, with some difficulty, managed to rescue their three comrades beyond, one thought sat in the mind of the blond infantryman.

_Who could have done this?_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Shit man, what the hell is up with all these damn freaky monsters? Goddamn ShinRa and their f…"

Barret Wallace's tirade was cut off as he riddled another freakish mutation with bullets with his gun-arm. Cloud looked briefly at the angered form of Barret as he hacked yet another limb off a second mutation.

"With the power out, all of Professor Hojo's experiments could get free, I would guess," he told Barret, whose frown deepened even further at this and drove the dark-skinned man into yet another rant about how screwed up ShinRa is.

As the three members of AVALANCHE (plus Aerith and Red) charged up the stairs to the 69th floor, Cloud stopped abruptly in front of them.

"What is it, Cloud?" Aerith called out with a worried tone from the center of the group, her staff at the ready. Cloud's mako eyes narrowed at the sight before him.

The foyer was black with a whirlwind of feathers.

There had clearly been a battle here. Scorch marks and gaping holes riddled the walls, no doubt from powerful materia blasts. Furniture was strewn about, some literally cleaved in half or into pieces. Gaping holes in the thick glass overlooking Midgar was throwing paper and the eerie black feathers into a maelstrom of movement, as if haunted by some ghostly force. The group was sent into a stunned silence at the spectacle. Even Barret was shocked out of his anti-ShinRa ranting to gape at the unnatural phenomenon. Tifa and Cloud, however, had a different look on their faces.

The pair had both seen these raven-black feathers before. They symbolized destruction. They symbolized Death.

These black feathers symbolized the destruction of everything Cloud and Tifa held dear.

"Cloud… this is…" Tifa said in a shaky voice. Cloud turned to her with a grave look and nodded slowly.

"I know, Tifa."

With that, he turned to the three who were huddled behind, still in awe of the spectacle before them. "We need to get to the next floor!" he urged. Barret, subdued for once, said nothing and followed the group from the rear as they advanced through the whirlwind of feathers to the staircase leading to the 70th floor.

None of them could have been prepared for what they saw.

Never mind the fact that President Shinra lay dead sitting at his desk, impaled by an impossibly long sword. It was who stood beyond, gazing out on the Midgar cityscape.

"General Sephiroth!"

Cloud couldn't believe it. Here stood before him the hero he had worked under 5 years ago, the man who had tried to save his hometown, but ultimately was thought killed by the madman known as Genesis. After having been abducted by Professor Hojo, he could remember little else. All he knew for certain was that this man shouldn't be here now.

The once great General of ShinRa turned towards the group and looked upon their shocked and apprehensive faces impassively. His mako eyes locked with the mako eyes of the blond briefly, but his attention was ultimately directed to the large sword the man had on his back.

The Buster Sword.

"That sword."

Sephiroth's calm, yet deadly voice washed over the group like a wave of ice water. Tifa couldn't help but feel a chill at the way the silver haired man spoke. Barret felt a deep sense of anxiety, gazing upon one of the most powerful men that ShinRa had ever produced. Even he held a great deal of respect for the man, even though he worked for the company he so despised. Aerith's green eyes were wide with unhidden fear, and she held onto her Guard Stick white-knuckled. Red's eye was narrowed slightly at this unknown entity, for the feeling he was getting was very hard to gauge.

Cloud's eyes widened a bit upon hearing Sephiroth's calm voice directed towards him. He slowly unsheathed the Buster Sword and held it in a slightly passive stance.

"What of it?" he asked the General with a guarded tone.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed slightly. "Where did you get that sword?" he inquired.

Cloud shrugged slightly, not taking his eyes off Sephiroth. "I've always had this sword…" he replied with a nearly unnoticeable look of confusion on his face.

The silver-haired ex-SOLDIER walked slowly towards President Shinra's body as he spoke.

"Really now. I recall that sword being wielded by two different men," he said calmly as he removed the Masamune from the corpse of the President silently, not taking his piercing gaze off Cloud. "You are not one of them."

Cloud's gaze grew fierce. "With all due respect, sir, I have used this sword ever since I became a SOLDIER 1st class," he stated with a wavering voice.

Sephiroth said nothing as he regarded the blond man with a critical eye, and then turned his back to them.

"Where is SOLDIER 1st class Zackary Fair, Mr. Strife?"

Aerith let a small gasp escape at Sephiroth's direct, blunt question. 'Zack?' she thought, her mind in shock. 'What does Cloud have to do with Zack?'

The simple question had also sent waves of confusion through the mind of Cloud Strife. 'Zack? Who is he talking about? Wait… Zack? No… where do I know Zack…'

The clatter of the Buster Sword falling abruptly on the marble floor of President Shinra's office made the rest of the group jump. Tifa ran over to Cloud, who was now holding his head in clear agony. She looked up at Sephiroth, whose back was still turned.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded of the General as she looked at Cloud in near panic.

She had only seen him like this once before, back when she first found him lying prone against a lamp post at the Sector Five train station with the Buster Sword in his lap. Something about Cloud had changed in the five years since she had seen him last at Nibelheim. Or perhaps, something had changed him…

Sephiroth turned and walked around the desk towards the group, Masamune returned to its sheath at his side as he regarded Cloud. "I did nothing to him directly, Miss Lockhart. It seems that my words had a curious effect on him, however…"

Before the silver-haired General could get too close, Barret and Red XIII positioned themselves between the prone forms of Tifa and Cloud. "Hold on jes' a sec there, SOLDIER man. Ya might have some fancy sword, and ya might've taken out old man Shinra, but I ain't lettin' ya get near Teef!" Barret told the man with far more bravado than he was currently feeling. Red said nothing, but made it clear by his posture where his position stood on the matter.

Sephiroth clearly looked amused at this as he observed the current leader of AVALANCHE. It seemed the infantryman had gained some unlikely allies in the rebel group, or more accurately the brash man in front of him was protecting Tifa. More importantly, Cloud's shocking change in demeanor, his SOLDIER 1st class uniform, the obvious mako treatments he had been exposed to, and his current possession of Angeal's legacy in the Buster Sword disturbed the stoic man.

A squeal disturbed the General's musings as he looked past the group and spotted a short, balding, rotund man cowering behind a pillar. Palmer, Sephiroth guessed. A waste of a human in the man's honest opinion, Palmer was nothing more than a waste of space with a worthless position in the Company. He was about as threatening as a toothless Chihuahua, to be honest.

"Mister Palmer, would you please be so kind as to step out here?" the General inquired calmly. The fat man stumbled from behind the pillar, sweat gleaming on his forehead as he stared in terror at the General.

"Se… Se… Sephiroth, s…sir!" the man stuttered fearfully as he stared at Sephiroth, who appeared to be now flanked by the terrorists that had infiltrated the building yesterday! Palmer was about ready to faint from the fear. First General Sephiroth comes back from the dead and kills the president while he watched, now he is with AVALANCHE? This was just not the poor executive's day.

The sound of helicopter rotors, however, brought a shade of confidence back into Palmer's panicked mind. It seemed something was going his way, after all!

The sight of the helicopter coming into view distracted Sephiroth's focus on Palmer long enough for the fat little man to make a run for the helipad doors. His eyes narrowed slightly as he heard Barret curse behind him.

"Shit! Rufus, that lil' rat bastard. I forgot about him!" he bellowed angrily.

Tifa looked up at Barret as she helped Cloud to his feet, the episode apparently having passed for now. "Rufus? Who's that?" she inquired.

Barret spoke in a low tone. "Vice President Rufus. Ol' man Shinra's son. In one of 'em Blackhawk 'copters Shinra loves to use. Them things just packed to the damn teeth. Betcha he could even take Mister SOLDIER man here if he wanted to." he added as he glanced at Sephiroth.

Tifa stared out the glass windows of the office as the helicopter prepared to land. "I wonder what kind of person he is…" she pondered out loud.

"I've heard no one has ever seen him laugh or cry…" Aerith said quietly.

"I heard he been assigned to someplace out in one of 'em foreign countries for years now," Barret added thoughtfully.

Sephiroth began walking towards the heliport after the fleeing Palmer and the arriving Rufus as Cloud spoke up.

"Sephiroth!"

The General paused briefly in his stride as Cloud spoke.

Cloud called out to Sephiroth with a renewed look of apprehension. "We're coming with you."

Sephiroth smirked lightly as he resumed his pace.

"Do what you will."

XXXXXXXXXX

Revision Notes (03/11/2012): Virtually nothing changed in this chapter from the original I had written. Reviews would be great, if you could spare the time to do so.


	7. Chapter 7

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 7

"Yo Spike, hold your ass up a sec!"

Cloud halted his advance towards the heliport where Sephiroth had went in pursuit of Rufus, and turned back with an impatient look towards Barret.

Barret was about at his wits end. The burly man had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours, from running up nearly sixty flights of stairs, to playing some fucked up game with Mayor Domino, seeing a headless woman in a weird ass tank, rescuing Aerith and a talking lion-beast thing with a flaming tail, being arrested, dragged in front of that now-rotting jackass Shinra, put in jail, spending the night talking about the Planet with a talking lion-beast thing, escaping said jail, finding some crazy room with feathers all over the goddamn place, and now a dead war hero of ShinRa standing by Old Man Shinra's corpse with said hero's sword embedded in the fat old president's back. Couple that with the fact the blond ex-SOLDIER he still didn't trust at all had a spaz out like he was high on some drugs from the Wall Market, and then acted like it never happened and was going after the dead General just snapped his last nerve.

"Can you tell me what in the hell is goin' on here? Ain't that Sephiroth SOLDIER guy supposed to be dead? And why he go n' kill Ol' Man Shinra? Not that I'm complainin'… but all this shit's givin' me a headache!"

Cloud turned with an audible sigh at Barret's exasperated outburst. "I don't really know either. All I know is we need to follow him and see where his true loyalties lie," he stated grimly. "I have a bad feeling somehow…"

Red XIII came forward and nodded his head slightly. "Yes… I am sensing an odd sort of emotion from that man. I cannot tell for certain whether he is friend or foe… we must be wary."

"Cloud…" Tifa's hesitant voice spoke up. "He did try to save Nibelheim… and he did kill President Shinra… maybe he is trying to save the Planet like we are."

Barret's face lightened slightly at those words. "Damn… if he is tryin' to get rid of ShinRa he's gotta be on our side! I bet ya he's gone out there to kill that lil bastard son Rufus too! Ain't right goin' murderin' people… but… hell! I dunno what to think!" His exasperation returned with increased vigor as he tried vainly to figure out just what the hell was going on.

"I dunno. All I know is we gotta follow him and find out for sure," Cloud told the group. "Come on, we need to hurry."

XXXXXXXXXX

"General Sephiroth. I must say it is surprising to see you here."

The calm voice of Rufus carried over the wind of the rooftop and rotor blades of the hovering chopper as he regarded the stoic General.

"Rufus."

Rufus Shinra laughed humorlessly. "That's President Rufus, General," he told the man matter-of-factly as he slicked back his hair with his hand. "As for you, have you come to rejoin ShinRa now that my old man is dead? I can overlook the fact you murdered him yourself. I would have too, given the chance," he added with a dark smirk.

"Wait, Sephiroth!"

The group, led by Cloud, came running onto the windy heliport after the still impassive General. Rufus regarded this addition with mild interest.

"I see you have made some friends, General. Quite unlike you… but then again, you were dead," he remarked lightly, chuckling at his own humor. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed slightly at the new President.

"So… who exactly are you people supposed to be?" Rufus inquired of the AVALANCHE group.

"Cloud Strife, ex-SOLDIER, 1st class." Cloud began.

"I'm the leader of AVALANCHE, and scum like you don't deserve to know my name!" Barret added.

"Tifa Lockhart, also from AVALANCHE."

"I'm… a flower girl from the slums," Aerith said.

"… a research specimen," Red finished.

Rufus stared blankly at the group for a moment, then turned to regard Sephiroth. "How far you have fallen, General. Associating yourself with such lowlifes is beneath you, I would think," he stated, then turned to regard the assembled group again.

"I'm Rufus Shinra. The President of ShinRa, Incorporated."

Barret shook his fist at him. "Yeah, an' you're only the president cuz' SOLDIER man here killed 'im!"

Rufus chuckled darkly. "And I must thank the General for his contribution to my cause. In appreciation, I will let you all hear my appointment speech."

He turned and walked towards Sephiroth. "The old man tried to control the world with money. Buy the people's trust. Throw some gil around, and the people will follow you. It worked, for a while."

He turned and walked towards Aerith, gesturing to the sky as he spoke. "If there was trouble, the ShinRa army would protect you. Work at ShinRa, make a living for yourself. If terrorists attack…" he paused and looked at Barret with a small smile. "ShinRa would ensure your well-being."

"You fuckin…"

"But!" Rufus interrupted Barret's angry retort, grim smile still in place as his gaze washed over those in front of him. "I'll do things differently. I won't control the people with money. I'll use _fear."_

A dark chuckle interrupted Rufus's "appointment speech". "Fear. You are no better than your father, Rufus."

Sephiroth turned and gave the young Shinra a piercing look that would send a lesser man fleeing in terror. "You are no better than the madmen you and your father employ. You would sooner drive the world into ruin to further your own goals, and use whomever you can in the process. Good men have died for your Company, and they all died for nothing."

Rufus met the General's deathly glare evenly with one of his own, all traces of humor having vanished as the rest watched warily. "You overstep your bounds, _General_," he spat out the title with venom. "How I run this company is no concern of yours."

Sephiroth's stare did not break as he spoke. "Mister Strife, take your companions and leave. I must have a word with the new President… alone."

Cloud shook his head as he came forward. "I'm not leaving. I have to make sure of something."

Sephiroth's gaze turned and locked with Cloud's, making the blond's step falter.

"It was not a suggestion," he said darkly, voice dripping with venom. "Leave, or I will make you leave."

Cloud stared uncertainly at the aggressive man, unsure. He had never seen the General so visibly angered before that he could recall in his muddled memories. Regardless, he had a deep-rooted respect for the man even now, and nodded slightly. "Let's go. We need to get Aerith to safety," he told the rest of AVALANCHE and Red.

No one argued as they ran back towards the office entrance. After the rest had entered the building, Cloud turned back to Sephiroth.

"Can we trust you?" he asked the man.

All he got in reply was the sound of the whipping winds, and Rufus's chopper hovering overhead. Shaking his head, he turned and ran to catch up to his comrades.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Cloud, over here!" Tifa called out.

The group had been forcefully separated during their descent, as Cloud had insisted on staying behind in case Sephiroth was going to follow them. Tifa had tried to argue with him, but he seemed adamant about staying there. Barret, not to be outdone, had decided to stay with Cloud, stating that he couldn't "trust your spiky ass as far as I can goddamn throw it" and sent Tifa, Red and Aerith down the elevator.

Upon the return of the elevator, and no sign of Sephiroth, Cloud had finally agreed to Barret's insistence that they go down and meet with the rest. An encounter with two automated ShinRa airborne defensive units and a treacherous ride down an elevator with shattered glass walls later, and the pair finally made it to the ground floor to meet up with the rest of the group.

Cloud and Barret turned to the sound of Tifa's voice as she called to them from the second floor balcony with a grave look on her face. The pair charged (or in Barret's case, stumbled, the poor man was still visibly shaken from being in combat on an elevator platform fourty stories in the air) up to meet the trio.

"We can't get out… there's an entire battalion of soldiers just outside…" Tifa told the two men grimly.

Cloud looked around, searching for an alternative. Then, he spotted something, and grinned.

"I've got an idea."

XXXXXXXXXX

It turns out Cloud's idea was something Aerith prayed to the Planet she would never have to go through again. While the blond SOLDIER lead on a prototype ShinRa motorcycle, literally crashing through the second floor window to land several feet away onto one of Midgar's upper plate throughways, the rest were crammed into an antique-looking truck lumbering after him.

The ShinRa highway pursuit cycles had been relentless in their attack, but Cloud had been like a man possessed with that massive broadsword he carried. Aerith had been genuinely frightened, not only because of the situation she was in, but for Cloud. It almost seemed like he was a different person as he hacked and slashed mercilessly at the pursuers, who were defenseless in comparison. After charging through a cordoned off section and being trapped at one of Midgar's many unfinished sections of roadway, they had almost been crushed, shot to death, and burned to a crisp by a massive ShinRa battle mech. Now, standing on the edge of the unfinished roadway, smoldering ruins of the machine behind them, she got her first real look at the world beyond Midgar.

"Well… what do we do now?"

Barret's words cut through the eerie silence that had washed over the group and the city as they stood gazing upon the vast plains beyond.

"I have a feeling Sephiroth wasn't the only person in that tower today," Cloud said quietly.

Tifa glanced over at Cloud's troubled look with one of her own. "Yeah… me too. Those black feathers we saw. They looked familiar somehow."

"They were very beautiful, in a sad sort of way," Aerith added hesitantly. "But… it seemed like they held some sort of great anger or hatred… almost as if they had a soul of their own..."

Red regarded the flower girl with a curious eye as he sniffed the air casually. "They did seem unworldly somehow," he commented.

Barret just stared at his comrades with a blank look. "I don't really care 'bout no freaky black feather tornadoes, prob'ly just some shit ShinRa cooked up to screw with us," he grumbled. "Anyways, we gotta figure out what we're doin' next, and figure it out soon 'fore them ShinRa bastards find us here…"

Cloud's eyes suddenly seemed to lose focus as his eyes seemed to scan the vast wastelands.

"We need to head east. The man responsible for the massacre at the tower… it wasn't Sephiroth."

Barret looked at him like he had grown a second head. "What in Holy's sake you talkin' bout, fool? It hadda been that silver haired SOLDIER freak. He killed Ol' Man Shinra, ya seen it!"

Cloud just shook his head slowly as his unfocused eyes continued to stare at nothing. "No. I… I can't explain it, but those black feathers. I've seen them before… _he_ was the one who slaughtered everyone in the ShinRa building…"

Tifa looked at Cloud, uncertain. "I guess it's possible… it doesn't seem like something General Sephiroth would do. But…" Her voice grew shaky as the memories of five years ago assaulted her consciousness. "If that man from Nibelheim was responsible... why would he attack ShinRa?"

Cloud's eyes grew focused again as he frowned. "I don't know. All I know is, nothing good will come of it. He's our real enemy… no. He's the enemy of the entire Planet if he isn't stopped…"

Barret perked up at the mention of Gaia. "So… we find this… black feather freak... and that'll save the Planet?"

Cloud turned back and shrugged. "I guess so."

The dark-skinned leader of AVALANCHE shook his fist. "That's good 'nuff for me. 'Sides, I never really liked Midgar anyways… I jus' hope Marlene will be okay."

Aerith looked apprehensive, but seemed to find her resolve within. "I've never been out of Midgar before… it's scary, but… I know it's what I must do." She turned and sent a warm smile Barret's way. "Don't worry about Marlene, Mr. Barret. My mom will keep her safe."

Barret almost appeared to blush a bit as he stuttered slightly. "Don't be callin' me Mr. Barret, woman. Don't sound right. Jus' Barret's fine…"

Aerith laughed lightly. "Alright, I'll remember that, Barret."

Meanwhile, Tifa reacted to Cloud's statement with a far more serious resolve and clenched her gloved fists. "If we can find the one responsible… I'm going too. I can't rest knowing _he_ is nearby. He'll pay for what he's done."

Red looked passively at the group. "I will follow you as well, as far as my home at least."

Cloud turned back towards the edge of the overpass and found a long cable hooked securely to the edge. "We can use this to get down to the wastelands, it looks like. It seems to drop down outside the slum gates."

"Wait… what about Sephiroth?" Tifa asked Cloud suddenly. "Do you think he made it safely out of the ShinRa Building?"

Cloud scratched his head. "I don't really know. We still don't even know what his real motives are… all I know is he should be just fine."

Barret scoffed. "How ya figure, Spikey? He wasn't just facin' that greasy blond bastard kid of Ol' Man Shinra's ya know," he pointed out to the pair. "Rufus had one of them fancy 'copters armed to the teeth with weapons. Not even some fancy pants SOLDIER could survive that kinda blast."

Cloud looked at Barret with a deadpan expression. "For your information, that 'fancy pants SOLDIER' wasn't called a hero for nothing," he shot back in a slightly defensive tone. "Trust me. He'll be just fine."

Barret's face grew angry and looked about ready to start a serious argument about what he really thought about SOLDIERs, but Tifa cut him off.

"It's okay, Barret, really. Come help me figure out how to get Red XIII down this cable somehow…"

Barret paled a bit. He had a feeling about what was coming, and he didn't like it one bit.

As his companions debated on how to get down the long cable safely to ground level, Cloud's mind was elsewhere as he looked east with a fierce expression.

"Genesis… I will find you."

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: I just want to thank all of you who have put my story on your favorite lists and alerts, and to my reviewers for taking time to let me know what they think. I really appreciate it and it helps motivate me to write! Also, you may have noticed there was quite a time jump last chapter. This is intentional, but through the plot we'll be revisiting the time we've skipped. It's all part of the story, so I hope you look forward to it!


	8. Chapter 8

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 8

Getting down the cable to ground level was easier for some of the AVALANCHE crew than others. For Cloud and Tifa, it had been quite simple due to their rigorous training. Aerith had been quite frightened of the height, but with some quick tutoring by Cloud on how to establish a strong grip using her feet and hands she had managed quite admirably.

Barret and Red were a different story.

At first, Cloud had suggested he help the intelligent feline down. However, the sheer bulk and awkwardness of his body had been too much for even the mako-enhanced man to deal with safely, and it had been ruled out soon after.

The only other option had been Barret.

The fact the man only had one operational hand wasn't lost on the rest of the group. Barret had been kind enough to emphasize this point several times loudly over the course of their "discussion" with no real success.

It was the odd mix of climbing rope and, thanks to Aerith's uncanny ability with materia, a precise use of Blizzard, Fire, and Earth materias that led to their successful slide down the rope. Red had been secured to Barret's broad back (with a great deal of effort). Then, using Barret's alternate gun-arm attachment designed for hand-to-hand combat that he had custom made just before their mission to the ShinRa building, it was literally flash-frozen onto the dense cable, which was also cooled. It hadn't been perfect, but Aerith had managed to manipulate the Fire materia so that the pair slid down the cable at a barely-managed speed. The Earth materia had thankfully been used in time to greatly soften their fall on the otherwise rock-hard dirt surrounding Midgar, but Barret was quite vocal about the experience.

"I ain't never doin' that shit again! Thought I was gonna die! Flyin' down that rope like that with that huge cat on my back!" the man raged as he hobbled out of the conjured sandpit with a look crossing anger and terror. "I had it with ropes n' wires! Nothin' but bad luck!"

Cloud and Tifa's expressions grew somber at the reminder. They wouldn't forget any time soon their perilous escape from the destruction of Sector Seven. It had been Barret's quick thinking and a death-defying leap on a cable not unlike the one they had just climbed down that had saved their lives. Too many had died that, and for nothing.

"Thank you, Barret. I am grateful for your assistance, even though you yourself are disadvantaged," Red XIII told Barret with his head slightly bowed in gratitude.

"Ain't yer fault, cat," Barret grunted, still clearly not pleased with what Fate had been dealing to him lately. "Jus' don't make me do that kinda shit again, all I ask…"

Red nodded, and turned to Cloud. "I am afraid I do not know this area so well, but I do believe east is the only direction we may take at this point," he commented.

Cloud scratched his head. "Yeah, nothing but ocean west. Besides, I just know what we're looking for is headed to the east."

Tifa looked at him oddly. "What do you mean, Cloud?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Just a feeling."

Barret started shadowboxing, the slide down the cable evidently forgotten for now. "Awright, sounds good enough for me. 'Course, we need a leader, right? That'd be me!"

Aerith had a slightly mischievous look on her face. "I dunno, I think Cloud should lead the way. Don't you think so, Tifa?"

Tifa nodded, a sly smile on her face as well. "Yeah, I think so too."

Barret's face grew red. "You can't be fuckin' serious…" he exclaimed, staring at the two women. When it was clear they, in fact, were serious he shook his head. "…fine. But we can't be goin' around in one big group. With ShinRa lookin' for us we'd stick out like a herd of fuckin' purple chocobos. Cloud'll lead one of the groups, and I'll lead the other one. That fair, ladies?"

Tifa nodded in agreement, but then gave Barret a quizzical look. "Okay, but how do we keep in touch? We'll need a way to keep in contact in case something goes wrong…"

Barret gave her a smug look as he pulled out several small, black cellphones. "Figured this might happen, so I hooked up with one've Jessie's ol' contacts and got these babies," he told her, his face growing solemn at the mention of their deceased comrade. "They ain't on the ShinRa networks so we can talk without bein' traced by them assholes."

Tifa nodded with a sad expression at the mention of her friend as she took one of the phones.

"It's comforting to know that our friends are helping us, even now…" she said wistfully as she stared at it in her palm. Cloud took his with a solemn expression, but said nothing.

As the rest of the AVALANCHE crew took a phone (except Red, of course, as he had no hands to operate one), Barret turned to Cloud.

"So, Mister Punkass Leader, how we doin' this?" he asked the blond.

"Well, I was thinking that you and Red go together," Cloud responded, looking thoughtful. "You two are definitely the stronger of our group, and I assume your sense of smell is much keener than ours...?" he ended with an inquiry, glancing at Red.

"I can't smell nothin', dumbass," Barret told Cloud, with a look clearly showing he hadn't clued in that Cloud wasn't actually talking about him. Red just stared at the large man with a blank expression, while Cloud rolled his eyes. The two women were trying not to laugh at this point.

"Yes, Cloud," Red chose to respond at this point, as Barret's look of confusion changed to one of mild embarrassment. "With my keen sense of hearing combined with my sense of smell, I should be able to detect any enemies long before we encounter them."

Barret, obviously still feeling silly for his remarks, chose not to point out Cloud's obvious choice in party members so as to save himself any further humiliation. Instead, he turned grumpily to Red. "Awright then cat, let's get movin'," he said gruffly. "Let's meet at a town called Kalm 'bout sixty or seventy miles east o' here," he bellowed back to the remaining members.

"Okay, Barret! Be careful!" Tifa yelled back to the man as the odd pair set off at a good pace across the Midgar Wastes. She turned to her two party members. "How long should we wait before we start after them, Cloud?" she asked him.

"I'd give it about ten minutes or so," he replied, looking at the two women. "We can't really follow any of the main roads either, or take the same path they are, but I think I know a few shortcuts to get to Kalm that we used back in my field training days."

"I can't wait!" Aerith said in an excited tone, eyes shining. "I've never been outside of Midgar before, so this is kind of like an adventure!"

Tifa smiled kindly at Aerith's childlike enthusiasm. Unlike the flower girl, she hadn't always been cursed to living in the slums of Midgar. Even though her time outside the rotting city had been far from perfect, she still had pleasant memories of the times before Genesis's ruthless attack on her village.

Cloud's gaze also softened at her outlook. An adventure, huh? It kind of was, potentially life threatening, but an adventure all the same. 'Count on Aerith to look at the bright side to anything,' he mused.

He turned his head skyward towards the imposing figure of Midgar's Plate. 'We should probably leave now… ShinRa is no doubt looking for us, if we stay here we're sitting ducks,' he thought as he gazed at its imposing presence over the slums. He focused his attention on the two, who were chatting quietly, about what Cloud wasn't quite sure. Their giggles made him wary, as Tifa gave him a quick glance with a sly smile on her face.

"Let's get moving," he said, eying Tifa in particular with an odd expression. "We don't want Shin-Ra finding us here, and the other two should be far enough ahead now, I think." With the acknowledgement of Tifa and Aerith, they began their trek towards Kalm.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Fuck!"

Red XIII turned and gave Barret a look that bordered on exasperation, if one could read the feline's facial expressions well enough. The pair had been wandering through the wastes for nearly six hours now, and aside from a couple of particularly nasty encounters with some of Hojo's abandoned monster experiments, they had yet to come across the lush green fields of the Kalm area. The cat had suggested Barret try contacting Cloud and the others, but the large man had never been very technologically minded, and had almost hurled the offending piece of plastic over a nearby cliff after fiddling with the device for nearly fifteen minutes. Red had just sat, powerless to do anything to help. Since the incident, Barret's fuse was growing ever shorter.

"Barret, allow me to attempt to gather our bearings," Red nearly pleaded with the obstinate man. "I do believe I can find the scent of the fields if I am allowed to focus."

"Fine! Do wha'ever you wanna do, cat!" the man grumbled in pent up frustration as he stopped his anger-fuelled stride and plopped down on the dusty ground. "Gettin' tired of this shit…"

Before Red XIII was able to focus his senses, a shrill ringing noise came from Barret's jacket pocket. The man pulled out the stubborn cell phone, and after much cursing, managed to coax it into answering the call.

"Barret?"

"Where the hell are ya, Spike?" the man bellowed into the phone with barely controlled fury. "I think Kalm gone and disappeared off the face of the fuckin' Planet!"

A moment of shocked silence followed on the other end of the call before Cloud managed to find his voice. "We're in Kalm, actually…" the blond stated quietly.

"WHAT?" Barret roared, his agitation nearing the limit. Red calmly padded up to the large man and, before the gunman could begin another tirade, spoke into the phone he held.

"Cloud. We need some assistance finding our way to Kalm," he told the ex-SOLDIER. "I am having difficulty pinpointing our direction as it seems this area is not favorable for me to track in."

"Okay," Cloud said after a moment. "I'm sending you a signal with our location now, it should pop up on the screen once we hang up. You should be able to find your way to us that way."

Red's expression nearly looked relieved. "Thank you," he said.

After the call ended, a small map of the area came up on the device's screen, showing them the way to where they needed to go. Barret regarded it with a slightly offended look, but grumbled his thanks to Red quietly as the pair made their way to Kalm.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had already set by the time the exhausted pair finally entered the town of Kalm. They had been greeted by a clearly worried Tifa at the gate, and had gone straight to sleep upon entering the room the rest of the group had reserved for them. The next morning, refreshed and cleaned up, the gruff leader of AVALANCHE set his gaze on Cloud.

"So… let's hear yer story."

Cloud looked up at Barret. "Huh?"

"The crisis facin' the Planet," Barret told him as if it were obvious. "Y'know, 'bout this freak we supposed t'be chasin', I wanna hear it all."

Cloud nodded slightly and leaned back in the chair he was in with a distant look in his eyes.

"Well… I joined SOLDIER so I could be just like Sephiroth," he began.

"Y'mean that freaky lookin' SOLDIER with the hair and longass sword?" Barret asked.

Cloud nodded again. "Yes, that was him. After several missions together, we became friends."

Barret made an odd sound. "Some friend. Looks half crazy if ya ask me."

Cloud smiled slightly. "Most people were afraid or in awe of him because of his strength and hero status. He didn't talk about himself much, but he always had my back. I guess you could call him a war buddy. We trusted each other with our lives. And then one day…

"

Aerith gave him a quizzical look. "One day?"

Cloud turned his gaze towards the ceiling. "After the Wutai War, it was our duty to quell any rebellions against Shin-Ra. There were several Wutai Resistance factions, and we had to… take care of them. It was five years ago, when I was sixteen when everything changed…"

XXXXXXXXXX

"…and that's the end of my story."

Cloud's narration of the destruction of Nibelheim had been dramatic. Barret had grown quiet, Aerith's face had an ashen tone to it as he related Genesis's madness and brutal slayings of the townspeople, Tifa had an odd look on her face but remained quiet, and Red had laid on the floor with his eye closed, but he too was listening closely.

"Wait a goddamn minute!" Barret loudly interjected. "Ain't there more to it?"

Cloud's eyes became unfocused again. "…I don't remember anything else."

Aerith had a pensive look. "What happened to Genesis and Sephiroth?"

"In terms of skill, Genesis was far superior to myself," Cloud told them. "I don't think even Sephiroth could have beat him."

"I tried looking through the past newspaper records, but I couldn't find any mention of Genesis…" Tifa said quietly. "I wonder if they even acknowledged the fact he was in Nibelheim…"

Cloud looked down at the floor. "I want to know why Genesis let me live. What happened to Sephiroth back then? Why are we both alive?"

"I'm alive too…" Tifa added.

"There's a lot about this that doesn't add up to me…" Aerith pondered out loud. "You mentioned that there was a chamber in that reactor that said "Jenova" on it… it seems to me there was a chamber in the Shin-Ra building that housed something called Jenova…"

Barret shook his fist. "Yeah, an' when we was tryin' to escape the place we ran past it an' it was gone!" he realized.

Cloud shook his head. "I'm not sure… but I get the feeling Genesis was in the Shin-Ra building that day too. Jenova and Genesis, maybe they're related somehow?" he noted, clearly disturbed by the thought.

Barret just shook his head and stood up suddenly. "None of this shit makes any sense!" he bellowed loudly, startling Tifa and Aerith out of their thoughts. "I ain't got a damn clue what to think 'bout all this, but if this freako Genesis-whatever is threatenin' the Planet, we gotta find 'im!" He stared down Cloud and pointed at him. "I'm leavin' all the plannin' crap to you since ya think ya know so damn much, hotshot!"

Cloud shrugged, but bristled at the sound of someone chuckling that seemed to wash over the group. Tifa jumped up at the sound, and Aerith's eyes widened. Even Red stood up from his lazy crouch at the noise. Barret raised his gunarm.

"Who's there?"

The voice had an amused tone to it. "Hmm. I wonder."

A collective gasp was heard from the majority of AVALANCHE as the ex-General of Shin-Ra walked slowly into the common room from the staircase. He gazed slowly over their shocked and apprehensive faces, before finally settling on Cloud with a serious expression on his face.

"I think we need to talk, Cloud Strife."

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: This chapter was admittedly hard to write. The scale of the game's world is hard to really guess, but I would think it would be about 50 miles at least from Midgar to Kalm. As well, I'm trying to flush out characters individually but Aerith hasn't really had much chance to shine. I just like writing Barret's character way too much, I guess.

Also, I hope my method of getting poor Red XIII down that cable makes sense somehow. It took me quite a while to find something that could even plausibly work.

Anyhow, updates from here on will be slower. I will be writing completely fresh content, and will need to spend a lot of time proofreading. Even so, if you guys encounter any errors please feel free to let me know so I can correct them!


	9. Chapter 9

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 9

"I think we need to talk, Cloud Strife."

Cloud stood a bit straighter by reflex at Sephiroth's authoritative tone, but tried to act nonchalant.

"What do we need to talk about?" he attempted to ask in a disinterested tone.

Sephiroth's cool gaze turned to Tifa. "I think Ms. Lockhart knows what I wish to discuss, don't you, Ms. Lockhart?" he then asked the brunette, who shrunk visibly under his knowing look.

"W-well, I..." Tifa stuttered out, as Cloud looked to Tifa in confusion.

"Tifa, what is he talking about?" he asked her.

Sephiroth turned and started down the staircase, but then stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Cloud, Ms. Lockheart, let us discuss this in private," he told them, and then without waiting for a response, he continued on his way downstairs.

Once Sephiroth had left, the tension dropped slightly, but never completely left, as the remaining occupants' tension converted more into confusion at the exchange between the three.

"What's that crazy SOLDIER man talkin' bout, Teef?" Barret asked Tifa with a worried tinge in his deep voice. "There somethin' goin on here we should know 'bout?"

Tifa's face had gone pale when it had become clear Sephiroth had heard at least a portion of Cloud's clearly altered version of the events in Nibelheim. Ever since she had found him again, he had been acting very oddly, and Cloud seemed to think he was someone he was not. Still, something deep inside her told her that directly confronting her childhood friend about it could be dangerous for his well being.

"It's alright, Barret, really," she told the large man with what she hoped was a convincing smile, even though inside she was petrified. "Cloud, let's go talk to General Sephiroth, okay?"

Cloud's muddled mind couldn't really understand why Sephiroth would want to talk to him and Tifa alone, but he didn't see any harm in it. After all, Sephiroth was a good man, and he still respected him greatly, even so far as to still feel a sense of kinship with him.

"Alright, Tifa," he nodded to her, as he turned to the rest of the group. "Everyone, wait here while we go talk to Sephiroth," he told them.

"Damn... you sure you can trust 'im?" Barret asked the pair, his dark eyes betraying his concern. He was still not convinced it was a good idea to let them go alone. "He wuz Ol' Man Shinra's top killin' machine, ya know!"

Cloud felt a tinge of anger at that, and he retorted quickly. "General Sephiroth only did what we had to do, Barret," he told the man. "It was war. It isn't pretty, it never is..." Cloud's shoulders drooped a bit as he looked at the floor. "...but ShinRa had us all fooled back then."

Barret's look grew somber. Even he had once, to some degree, trusted ShinRa. It had cost him his livelihood, his town, his best friend, and his wife.

"Yea... I guess yer right, Spikey," Barret said quietly. "We all been made ta suffer by them bastards, even Mister General down 'dere." He sat heavily in the nearby recliner, and sighed in resignation. "Ya two hurry it up, then. Don't keep us waitin', or we'll come lookin' for ya."

Aerith nodded from her seat on the nearby bed. "We'll be here if you need us," she told them with a smile.

Red didn't look up from his spot on the floor. "Let us know when it is time to go," was all he said.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cloud and Tifa found Sephiroth standing stoically just outside the inn, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and hand resting on the hilt of Masamune. When he heard the two exit, he exhaled slowly, opened his eyes and turned to them, his eyes briefly resting on Angeal's and Zack's prized Buster Sword sheathed on Cloud's back.

The ex-General was trying to find a way to help Cloud realize himself something was not right, but he was wary. There were far too many unknowns at this point in time for him to be straight out blunt, so he tried a more round-about approach.

"Cloud. Do you feel anything out of the ordinary right now?"

Cloud's expression became confused. "What do you mean, 'feel'?" he asked.

"I meant what I said. Does anything not seem ordinary? Do you sense anything that does not seem normal?" Sephiroth pressed him.

Cloud really could not understand what Sephiroth was asking him. What did he 'feel'? He felt fine. Sure, his head felt a bit foggy now and then, but it had been a stressful couple of weeks, and a lot had happened.

Sephiroth let out an audible sigh, and shook his head. "Perhaps I am going about this too indirectly for you to understand," he told him. "Very well, I will try a different approach."

Tifa's blood went cold as Sephiroth's mouth opened again to speak.

"Tell me about the incident at Nibelheim."

Cloud's confusion grew. "You were there, Sephiroth. You should know just as well as I what happened there... the carnage, the destruction," he told him somberly.

Sephiroth's expression softened ever so slightly, but he shook his head. "I want to hear your version of events. I want you to tell me who was there, what your role was, and how it all came to its conclusion."

Cloud tried to piece together his story again from when he had told it earlier. "Well, there was myself, you, two infantrymen, and Tifa was our guide up the mountain," he began.

Sephiroth's expression remained neutral as he glanced at Tifa's nervous form, but said nothing as Cloud continued.

"We were assigned to investigate the reactor," Cloud continued with a slightly unsteady voice. "You and I were the SOLDIERs in charge of the investigation, and we had two infantrymen to complete the squad. Tifa was hired as a guide through the mountain trails."

Sephiroth's mind was working a mile a minute, but he simply said, "What happened in the reactor?"

Cloud's mako eyes seemed to grow clouded as he answered. "General Rhapsodos appeared. He... he... attacked us, and then flew away."

Sephiroth's expression had still remained a neutral mask. "How did it all end in Nibelheim, Mr. Strife?" he asked.

"I... he... Genesis, he... I confronted him, and then..."

Sephiroth watched in puzzlement and slight shock as Cloud held his head and moaned. "Where, what...?" Cloud seemed to be asking himself, not knowing where, or indeed, who he was.

Tifa ran to him in concern. "Cloud, hang on, okay?" she pleaded with him as his eyes tried to focus on Tifa. She turned to Sephiroth with a frightened look. "Can we let this drop for now, please, General?" she nearly begged him.

Sephiroth nodded slowly as Cloud appeared to regain his senses. Cloud turned to Sephiroth and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't remember anything else. Whatever happened there really must have been traumatic," he apologized sheepishly to Sephiroth, scratching his head.

"No, it is fine, Strife," he answered quietly. He turned to Tifa. "Ms. Lockhart, can I speak to you alone for a short time?"

Tifa grew paler again, but nodded shakily. Cloud shrugged and pointed a thumb towards the inn.

"I'll be in there if you need me," he told them. "Don't take too long."

Sephiroth nodded to Tifa. "Shall we head to the cafe over there?" he asked as he pointed to the small cafe nearby, but still far enough to be safely out of earshot of even a SOLDIER 1st's hearing.

"Okay..." Tifa answered apprehensively.

XXXXXXXXXX

Once they had settled in and placed their orders, Sephiroth leaned back and stared at Tifa with a pensive look.

"Ms. Lockhart, how long have you known of Cloud's delusions?" he asked her straight away.

Tifa was taken aback by the ex-General's directness, but knew this was what he had asked her here for. She looked down, unable to look Sephiroth in the eye.

"I... I think I knew there was something wrong from the moment I saw him again," she admitted. "I knew he had never made it into SOLDIER because he saved me in that reactor after Genesis had hurt me, but he was in an infantry uniform, and his eyes didn't... they didn't glow," she added with a thoughtful stare at the table's surface.

She looked up at Sephiroth's neutral face. "When I saw him again, his eyes... they had that glow, and he was wearing the same type of uniform that... that Zack wore," she continued. "He even had that same huge broadsword, and he even seemed to act differently. I thought at first maybe he had finally got that promotion he wanted so badly, but some things just didn't add up."

Sephiroth's head nodded slightly. "Such as?" he queried.

"Well..." she began, "after Master Zangan brought me to Midgar, I kept an ear out for any mention of Cloud. At first, I tried to be optimistic, that Cloud was okay... but then ShinRa released the news that you and Zack had died in battle. I..." her voice broke a bit as she tried to contain her emotions. "...if you and Zack were killed, I thought then that since Cloud was on your squad, he probably was dead too."

Sephiroth leaned back a bit and released a sigh. "Indeed, it seems that ShinRa's propaganda machine was working in overtime during my absence," he mused. "What troubles me, Ms. Lockhart, is that there more to this than even Cloud realizes, and he appears to have taken on some sort of... alternate personality."

Tifa looked down at the table. She had feared this might have been the case. Her childhood friend, while definitely still being Cloud, somehow _wasn't _at the same time. There were things he remembered, but at the same time there were other things he didn't know that he should. She looked up then and met Sephiroth's gaze again. "What do you think we should do?" she asked him.

Sephiroth shook his head. "For now, we do nothing," he told her. "The mind is a complex machine, Ms. Lockhart. If we throw a wrench into the delicate gears of his state of mind, there is no telling what sort of damage could be done." He looked at her then with a commanding gaze. "We keep this from him for now, Tifa. You are the closest to him. Help keep him anchored to reality as best you can, as only you can."

Tifa shrunk back a bit instinctively, but knew that Sephiroth was right, deep down. Until they could figure out what was wrong with her friend, they had to tread lightly.

"Okay... I will," she said finally, with conviction.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tifa and Sephiroth returned to the inn a short time later, after enjoying their drinks. The rest of the group was anxiously awaiting their return as they came up the stairs.

"Welcome back Tifa!" Aerith enthusiastically greeted the younger woman with a smile as she appeared. She then turned to Sephiroth and bowed respectfully. "And hello again, Sephiroth," she greeted the ex-General.

Tifa smiled at her friend's welcome, as Sephiroth nodded to her. Cloud approached the pair then.

"Is everything alright?" he questioned the two.

Tifa's smile faltered slightly, but Sephiroth was quick to make the save. "Everything has been resolved," he told Cloud. "We are ready to depart whenever you wish."

"We?" Cloud asked. "You're coming with us, General?"

Sephiroth's mouth curved ever so slightly into a smile. "Believe it or not, Strife, I have similar reasons as you for wanting ShinRa to be dismantled, and stopping Genesis's plans," he responded. "Also, I am no longer a General. There is no need to address me as such," he added.

Cloud scratched his head. "Sorry," he replied sheepishly. "Old habits die hard, I guess."

"Indeed."

Cloud turned back to the rest of the group. "Alright, everyone. Get ready to leave! We're going to continue east across the plains," he began. "We won't be following any of the highways to lower the chance of attracting attention, so we will all need to be prepared for the increased chance of monster attacks. Make sure you're all ready before we go."

XXXXXXXXXX

As the room bustled with activity, Cloud noticed one occupant still hadn't moved.

Barret Wallace had been fast asleep through the entire exchange in the recliner in the corner, low rumbling snores reverberating from the big man, much to Cloud's chagrin.

Aerith walked up beside Cloud with a knowing smile and whispered to him. "He looks kind of cute like that, you know," she said with a tinge of mischief. "It's a shame we have to wake him."

Cloud smirked. "I know what you mean... hey Aerith, watch this," he suddenly whispered to her.

Cloud walked quietly beside the man, who hadn't flinched. He then leaned close to him and took a deep breath.

"BARRET! WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO GO!" he bellowed.

The effect was instantaneous. Barret's unceremonious, sudden awakening was so violent the recliner he was in tipped comically backwards, with him still in it.

"_What da fuck!_" Barret bellowed, his legs stuck in the air, and his arms flailing.

Cloud couldn't restrain himself, and he bent over, howling with laughter. Even Aerith was trying very, very hard to stifle her giggles with her hand, but failing miserably.

Tifa had looked up from packing her satchel in time to see Cloud's antics, and even she was smiling at the exchange. 'At least in some ways, Cloud is still Cloud...' she thought to herself.

Even Red had found the entire thing mildly amusing. His understanding of human nature was still limited given his young age, so he was enjoying watching this exchange with interest.

Sephiroth, of course, was entirely disinterested.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'ma get you back fer that, Spikey, you jes' watch..." Barret grumbled as the group departed through the back gates of the town a short time later.

Cloud stifled a snicker with one hand, but composed himself as he reverted into his leadership role as he turned to the group.

"Alright, thanks to Sephiroth's joining us, we have a balanced group again," Cloud began as he addressed the assembled party. "As before, I'd like to split up into two groups as we make our way east so we're harder to spot. Sephiroth," Cloud then addressed the ex-General, "I would like you to lead the second group."

Sephiroth nodded at that. It was a logical choice, after all.

"Very well," he agreed. "Who shall I be taking with me?"

Cloud looked at the rest of the group as he thought about it. Barret interrupted his thoughts, however.

"Hang on a sec," he spoke up loudly. "How come Mister Hotshot General here..." Sephiroth cleared his throat quietly at this, clearly not liking the nickname, "...how come he gets 'ta lead the second group now? I thought I was leadin' it!"

Cloud just shook his head. "Truthfully Barret, I've known Sephiroth the longest, and know I can trust him," he told Barret. "I know he is a capable leader and will know how to react to almost any situation."

Barret wasn't satisfied with that answer. "You might trust 'im, but I don't! How do we know he ain't secretly workin' for the ShinRa?"

Tifa stepped up and put her hand gently on Barret's arm. "It's okay, Barret," she told him with a soft voice that always calmed the emotional man down. "Cloud's right. Sephiroth's used to being a leader. He has the best chance of leading a group safely through danger. He didn't mean to insult you, did you Cloud?" she then asked the blond.

Cloud scratched his head. "Nah, sorry if it came across that way, Barret."

Barret was mollified, at least a bit by that. "No prob, I guess..." he grumbled.

Cloud turned back to Sephiroth. "To answer your question, I was thinking Aerith handle materia, and Red, you back up Sephiroth. How does that sound to everyone?"

Aerith nodded and smiled. "Okay!"

Red inclined his head. "Very well."

Cloud turned back to Tifa and Barret. "You two, come with me. Tifa, are you comfortable enough with taking care of any spellcasting?"

Tifa smiled. "Sure, I could use the practice."

Barret gave Cloud a grin. "I'll show ya what I'm made of, Spike!"

XXXXXXXXXX

As the group had rationed out their limited stock of materia and healing supplies and headed out seperately from the town, a lone figure in the shadows quietly opened up a cellphone and held it to their ear.

"Tseng. They are headed your way."

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: This is my first set of new material in some time, so I hope it turned out well. Any critiques or reviews would be helpful!

Also note that updates will probably be further apart from now on, so I apologize in advance. Your kind reviews and messages help fuel my desire to write, so I thank you all!


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Just want to thank all the folks who have favorited and reviewed. I hope you enjoy the twists and turns the story takes. Also, apologies for the long delay between updates. I've been extraordinarily busy, and it probably won't let up anytime soon, but I will still try to update as often as I can.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 10

After leaving Kalm, the two groups briefly discussed their routes, and had decided on Cloud's group following the mountains on the north side of the pass past Kalm, while Sephiroth's would head south. They would rendezvous at the Chocobo Farms to likely obtain chocobos to cross the infamous marshes to the south.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Gods damned it... it's hot..."

Barret Wallace was miserable. The Grasslands east of Midgar, while far more flourishing and full of life than the Midgar Plains' dry and desolate wastelands, were still quite hot during the day. The man had lived in the hot and dry climate of Corel for his entire life, but life under the plate of Midgar had spoiled him to its relatively cool climates, even in the summer, as the daylight rarely penetrated very far under the plate. Suffice it to say, he wasn't used to the humid heat of the open Grasslands.

Cloud's Mako-enhanced body was able to withstand fairly severe temperatures, so he was entirely unaffected by the heat. Tifa also, being a trained martial artist, was able to withstand the humid temperatures without any complaint.

"Here, have some more water, Barret," Tifa called back to the struggling AVALANCHE leader as she tossed back another flask of water, which he deftly caught with his good hand and expertly unscrewed.

"Ugh... thanks Teef," he panted as he guzzled back a good portion of the flask. "We gunna have enough to last the trip, ya think?" he asked.

Cloud stopped and flipped open his phone, and called up the GPS. "We should have enough, if we're good about conserving what we have left," he answered after a moment. "We'll have to camp out for the night after we clear the Kalm Pass, and then head for the Chocobo Farms while trying to keep a good distance from the main roadways. With any luck, we'll make it there by noon tomorrow."

Barret's head hung a bit. "Shit man... that's an awful lot of walkin'... can't we jus' get a car or somethin' and drive the rest of the way?"

Tifa smiled sadly at Barret but shook her head. "You know we can't," she said kindly. "ShinRa would be able to track us far too easily, and mako fuel is too expensive for us to afford."

Barret shook his fist at the sky at the mention of ShinRa. "We shoulda just stuck with coal and petrol instead of killin' the planet by suckin' out mako!" he bellowed angrily. "Goddamn ShinRa..."

Cloud shook his head, and began walking again. "We won't have to walk the entire journey, Barret," he called back as he walked. "We'll rent chocobos wherever we can. It's a great way to travel!"

Barret shivered, despite the heat.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sephiroth's group was also having slight difficulties, although the problems arose with monsters. The twisted spawn of the Planet were tormenting the group on a fairly regular basis, although they were absolutely no threat to the skilled ex-General, the intelligent feline, and the natural master of materia. Still, Sephiroth sensed that something odd was going on, as the monsters appeared to be actively seeking out their group.

"*huff* I... I think I need to sit down for a few minutes," Aerith wheezed apologetically after their latest encounter with a rather large group of Kalm Fangs. Although being able to channel the powers of the Planet naturally, and having an extraordinarily large spiritual pool to draw from, she was nearly spent after having done so much casting.

Sephiroth gazed over the battlefield littered with corpses and nodded as he turned back to the group.

"Very well, we will take fifteen minutes," he agreed as he pulled out a vial of blue liquid and handed it to Aerith, who looked at him quizzically.

"What's this?" she inquired as Sephiroth handed her the bottle.

"It's a bottle of Ether," he explained as she twisted the top off. "It will assist in regenerating your spiritual reserves. Letting them regenerate naturally is usually the best option, but we cannot risk you being unable to defend yourself if we are surrounded or ambushed in the future."

Aerith nodded gratefully, and took a swig. Her face turned sour as she managed to coax the concoction down her throat.

"It's... nasty."

Sephiroth gave a ghost of a grin at her humorous reaction, and then turned to Red who was padding up to him, concern burning in his good eye.

"Sephiroth, I believe it would be wise to set out as soon as possible," he told the ex-General in a low tone. "I am sensing an unnaturally large amount of monsters from the way we came, and they seem to be coming straight for us at an alarming speed."

Sephiroth turned and closed his eyes for a moment. Indeed, he could sense an abnormally large amount of lifeforms some distance away, and they did seem to be coming straight for them.

"Indeed. Let us make haste," he told the feline. He then turned to Aerith.

"Aerith, we need to leave right away. We will be needing to run. Can you keep up?"

Aerith stood shakily, and gave him a weak smile. "I'll try my best..." she managed.

Sephiroth shook his head as he saw her condition. "I do not believe you will be able to," he responded to her. Hesitating for only a moment, he proceeded to hoist the flower girl in his arms and put her over his shoulder.

"Ahhhh! Sephiroth, what are you doing?" Aerith squealed as the remaining party members began to run at great speed.

"There is no time to argue," Sephiroth responded to her objections as he ran. "We must make it to the marshes quickly. The monsters following us will not come after us if we make it that far."

"What of the Zoloms?" Red asked after a moment of silence.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed as he increased his pace even more, but said nothing. If his instinct was correct, the Midgar Zoloms were the lesser of two evils...

XXXXXXXXXX

As dusk fell, Cloud's group reached the end of the Kalm Pass. Before them was nothing but open fields and rolling hills for as far as the eye could see. Beyond here, there would be no mountains to follow, and no possibility of cover.

Cloud turned to the exhausted pair behind him. "Let's set camp here," he told them. "I'll take first watch so you two can get some rest. Tifa," he turned then to the brawler, "you take second watch so Barret here can get some extra rest for last watch."

Tifa smiled tiredly at her childhood friend. "Okay, that's fine with me," she replied.

Barret, too exhausted to even answer, unhooked his pack and dropped it on the ground.

"I'll go find us somethin' to make a fire with, I guess..." he told the pair, who were setting up the two tents the trio would be using.

Cloud looked up at Barret. "Make sure you don't take long," he told the older man. "If you aren't back in ten minutes, we'll come looking for you."

Tifa simply smiled. "Be careful, Barret," she told him.

Barret waved at them with his back turned as he went.

XXXXXXXXXX

Around the same time Cloud's group was setting camp, Sephiroth and Red had miraculously ran for nearly four hours straight, and had reached the East Midgar Marshes in record time. Even with his superior conditioning and enhanced strength and stamina, Sephiroth was visibly winded, and Red was also taking a long-needed breather.

"I believe... they have stopped pursuing us..." Red panted out. "It is as if... they know they cannot... follow us any further."

Sephiroth had dropped the shaken, but no worse for the wear, Aerith to the ground and was generously gulping down a flask of water. As he finished, he shut his eyes and listened to his keen senses. Indeed, it appeared the huge mass of monsters that had been unrelentingly pursuing them was finally retreating.

"I hope we never have to do that again..." Aerith mumbled to herself, brushing off her muddied pink skirt. The long run for survival had been made in complete silence, with Sephiroth and Red not stopping or slowing even once. Aerith had even sensed the Planet crying out in what it felt like fear and anguish. She somehow knew that whatever had been after them was related to the Planet's distress.

Sephiroth turned to the frazzled flower girl. "I apologize for my rough handling, Ms. Gainsborough," he told her. "It was a matter of urgency and had to be handled with haste."

Aerith blushed slightly but smiled brightly at the silver-haired ex-SOLDIER. "It's fine, really," she replied. "I knew you were only doing what you thought was best."

Sephiroth turned away and nodded. "Very well then," he replied, accepting her reply. "Let us take thirty minutes to rest and recuperate. We will need to proceed across the marshes on foot swiftly and reach the Mithril Mines before dark."

Red's good eye narrowed. "It is common knowledge that it is incredibly dangerous to cross the marshes without a well-equipped military grade vehicle, a helicopter, or a chocobo," he warned. "Are you sure we will be able to cross safely?"

Sephiroth turned his green eyes towards the marshes, the orange glow of the sun as it began to slowly set on the horizon giving them an odd shimmering appearance.

"We have no choice."

XXXXXXXXXX

As the sun sat low on the horizon, casting long shadows of the tents and few trees scattered in the clearing below the mountains, Cloud's team sat before a brightly burning fire as Tifa tended to a large pot filled with stew cooking over it.

Cloud opened his phone. "I'm going to call Sephiroth," he told the others as he flipped through the menus, looking for a number. "I'm a bit worried that we haven't heard from them yet."

Barret sighed tiredly. "They's an odd bunch, 'specially that talkin' cat, but they know what they doin'," he said. "I ain't too worried 'bout it."

Tifa's brown eyes looked at Barret curiously. "I thought you didn't trust General Sephiroth, Barret," she mentioned.

Barret stared into the fire. "I met him once, ya know," he said quietly. "Was a good six or seven years ago now, I guess."

Tifa's eyes widened a bit. "Really? What happened?" she asked.

Barret's gaze never left the fire. "He was escortin' some ShinRa suits with them Turk monkeys. Was somethin' about the reactor site in Corel," he explained quietly. "He was a creepy lookin' guy, even for one of them SOLDIERs, with his freaky fuckin' glowin' cat eyes... funny thing was, unlike them jackass Turks, ya could tell jus' by the way he carried himself he was more than jus' some assassin-fer-hire. Had ta' respect that, I guess."

Tifa looked down. Barret rarely mentioned Corel. It was something that had severely impacted the big man's otherwise normal, happy life, and turned it into something far from it. She had heard the stories about Corel's demise on more than one occasion, and it never was any easier to swallow.

Their somber discussion was interrupted with Cloud suddenly bellowing.

"ARE YOU INSANE?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The irony of Cloud's loud outburst was not lost on Sephiroth as he held the cellphone away from his ear. He had almost lost his grip on sanity on more than one occasion over the last five years. He returned the handset to his ear.

"Let me explain, Strife," he began calmly.

"_You better have a good explanation,"_ Cloud warned.

Sephiroth smirked slightly at Cloud's threatening tone. "I do. We were being pursued by a unnaturally large amount of monsters and had to retreat to the marshes to elude them," he explained.

"_Why didn't you engage them?"_ Cloud inquired.

"We had already encountered over a dozen separate packs of monsters since departing, and Aerith's spiritual energy had run low," Sephiroth answered. "In addition, she is not accustomed to long periods of combat, and judging from the sheer number of monsters that had been coming towards us, it would have been very unwise to stay and attempt to slay them while keeping her safe from harm."

Cloud was quiet on his end for several moments. _"If you encounter a Zolom, will you be able to handle it, Sephiroth?"_

Sephiroth closed his eyes.

"I will."

XXXXXXXXXX

Barret and Tifa watched Cloud with concern as he finally finished his conversation and returned to the campfire.

"What tha' hell happened, Spikey?" Barret asked the blond.

Cloud sat and gave a long, worried sigh. "Sephiroth, Aerith and Red were forced to cross the marshes on foot."

"That's crazy!" Tifa exclaimed as she stood, shock also present on Barret's face. "Why would they do something like that?"

Cloud shook his head. "They were being chased by a large pack of monsters, and Aerith was apparently too tired and weakened from other monster attacks to be able to fight, so they had to run for several hours straight to the marshes to escape them," he explained to the worried pair as he looked down, confusion riddling his face. "What makes no sense to me is why we were only attacked twice the entire journey..."

Tifa sat back down slowly and glanced at Barret. Cloud brought up a good point. With the distance they had travelled and not taking established roadways, the chance of monster attack went up greatly, however only encountering two small packs of Kalm Fangs had been incredibly lucky, in her opinion. Why then, had Sephiroth's team been attacked so severely they had needed to find solace in the comparatively dangerous East Midgar Marshlands really confused her.

"I jus' hope Mr. SOLDIER knows what he's doin'," was all Barret said.

'So do I,' Cloud thought. 'So do I...'

XXXXXXXXXX

Notes: I haven't had a chance to proofread this thoroughly, but it seemed to be in good order. If you come across any grammar or spelling errors glaring at you, please PM me or leave a review and I will gladly fix it up.

With that said, please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 11

The trek across the marshes for Sephiroth, Aerith and Red was not an easy one. The bog-like ground they traversed slowed their pace. Red especially found himself hampered by the marshes. All three were on high alert, on the watch for the approach of any massive, worm-like Zoloms. Aerith, being the weakest physically, was in the center of the party of three, with Red taking the rear and Sephiroth leading the advance.

Aerith, while boldly trying to feign a brave front, was quite nervous. Therefore, she tried to take her mind off the current situation by opening a dialogue with Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth, can I ask you something?" she asked meekly.

Sephiroth did not physically acknowledge her question as he continued to keep on high alert. "You may," he answered.

Aerith paused a moment as she gathered her courage. "Can you tell me more about Zack?" she finally asked.

Sephiroth's step faltered for a split second, unnoticed by either of his companions. How did this girl know Zack? Still, his curiosity was piqued.

"How did you know Zack Fair?" he inquired.

Aerith blushed slightly as she focused more intently on her footing than was really necessary. "When I was a teenager I... I liked him. We dated for a while."

That made sense. Sephiroth remembered Zack's puppy-like enthusiasm when he told him, on more than one occasion mind you, how wonderful his new girlfriend was. So, this was the woman that had finally settled Zack down a bit back in the day. He had to admit, she had gained a bit more respect from him just knowing that.

"I see," he replied, still not once faltering in his vigilance as the party continued their trek. "Zack and I served together for several months on many occasions in SOLDIER. I first came to know him when he was a Second-Class during the war, and when he was promoted, we were often sent on missions together." Sephiroth paused as he gathered his words. "He was one of the few people I would call... a friend."

Aerith smiled slightly at Sephiroth's description of him. He was so full of life and charm. It was what had attracted her to him in the first place. Still, she had one more question that hadn't stopped bugging her for over five years.

"Can you tell me what happened to him?"

Sephiroth just shook his head and said nothing as they continued.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Sephiroth continued his silence for a bit longer and then spoke.

"I don't know. The last time I saw him, he was being pursued by a squadron of ShinRa troops."

Aerith gasped quietly. "Do you think he's okay?" she pressed.

"I don't know, but... I hope so."

"Sephiroth! There's something coming!" Red interjected suddenly into their conversation.

All three stopped immediately. Sephiroth was silently cursing himself for allowing his focus to be broken by the flower girl's inquiries. There was indeed something coming at them at high speed, he sensed.

Something _huge_.

"Aerith, behind us!" he told the girl in a commanding tone, Red taking position beside him in a fighting stance.

Aerith quickly drew her staff and stood behind the two, ready to support them with the Cure and Blizzard materias embedded in it, and the Fire and Thunder materias in her wristbands.

The boggy ground beneath them began to rumble as the huge creature came closer. Sephiroth drew the Masamune and stood ready in a combat stance, cat-like eyes narrowed. He knew what was coming.

The Zolom appeared in quick and dramatic fashion, bursting out in a spray of water and mud in front of them. Sephiroth conjured a quick Barrier to shield the group from the wave, and then readied himself to make the first strike, despite being nearly ambushed.

"Flank it!" he ordered Red, who didn't need to be told twice, and tried his best to quickly get behind the massive creature.

The Zolom, unbeknownst to its prey, was not a stupid creature. It saw what the feline was trying to do, and with a deft and deadly flick of its tail, cleanly caught Red in the side. The cat had seen the blow coming, but the marshes were severely impeding his movement, so there was nothing he could do as the blow came swiftly.

"Red!" Aerith cried out as the massive cat flew several dozen feet from the blow.

"I... I will be fine," Red called weakly, attempting to tend to his wounds with his own Cure materia. "Take care of the monster!"

Sephiroth had not paused even as Red had taken the blow from the Zolom, instead using the distraction to his advantage. He immediately opened his assault with an impressive jump, followed by a chain of quick and deadly slashes, a technique dubbed "Reaper" for obvious reasons.

The Zolom reeled in surprise and agony at the assault by the ex-General, and attempted to counter with its razor-sharp fangs. Sephiroth, with unnatural speed and grace given the terrain, rolled and sidestepped every lethal lunge. He then jumped back and called upon the power of one of his materia embedded in his sword, the energies of the Planet enveloping his form and causing his coat and long hair to flutter with supernatural winds.

The interesting thing about the Midgar Zolom was that, in addition to its battle prowess, it also had a keen affinity for spellcasting. It could sense Sephiroth preparing a powerful spell, and wanted none of it. The massive creature, with surreal agility, whipped its tail towards the prone swordsman in an attempt to skewer the prone man as he prepared his spell.

Quick thinking by Aerith saved Sephiroth from having to break the spell. An adept spellcaster in her own right, she saw the Zolom preparing to impale Sephiroth as he readied his spell, so with great speed, she flung a string of Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard spells at the creature's head with perfect accuracy. While not being powerful enough to cause any real harm to the resilient Zolom, it was enough to interrupt its counterassault long enough for Sephiroth to finish his spell.

Quietly thanking Aerith for her quick thinking, and his preparations complete, Sephiroth directed the gathered spiritual energies and channeled it into the spell he had been preparing.

While Sephiroth was no master of spellcasting, unlike Genesis, he was still far more adept than the vast majority of Gaia's population. The Flare spell that he released was a testament to his skill.

The Flare enveloped the Zolom with a brightness of the sun, so much so that Aerith had to shield her eyes. The subsequent explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the air, with a sonic boom knocking the flower girl down. As she looked up in shock and awe, the image of Sephiroth, standing with Masamune pointed at the Zolom and the fury of the Flare spell giving an unearthly red glow to the man as his hair and black coat whipped from the winds caused by the backlash, would not soon leave her mind.

As the spell's effects dissipated, it was with slight shock that Sephiroth discovered the Zolom had not been incinerated by the Flare like he would have assumed. It was indeed quite injured, blackened in many places by the heat and oozing wounds, but to its credit, the Zolom was still alive, if not gravely injured.

The Zolom had also clearly had enough.

The massive worm curled itself into a defensive ball, and channeled its own spiritual energy into a magical technique of its own. Sephiroth, sensing what it was preparing, sent a flurry of sonic waves towards the creature in an attempt to break its concentration. Unfortunately, it did not.

Having prepared its counter-assault, the Zolom left its defensive curl and stood erect on the base of its tail, towering dozens of feet over its prey, as it released its unique spiritual ability, dubbed "Beta".

Sephiroth, knowing he had failed, called upon as much spiritual energy as he could muster in such a short time and threw the strongest Wall spell he could upon himself, Aerith, and the prone Red. Still, the strength of the enormous tornado of flame assailed the trio relentlessly.

When it finally dissipated, Red and Aerith were both thrown unconscious, and Sephiroth himself had been injured by the intense heat. The Wall spell had not been properly prepared, so it had broken and shattered from absorbing so much punishment. Still, if Sephiroth had not done so, he was certain Aerith and Red would have been much worse off.

Knowing the Zolom was in a prone state after having delivering such an intense, lethal attack, Sephiroth knew his next attack had to finish it quickly. He quickly resumed his sword stance, and lunged for the massive worm, leaping high into the air and unleashing another of his signature attacks, aptly named Hell's Gate. The devastating maneuver cleanly impaled the Zolom through, efficiently finishing it off.

Once checking that the massive creature was indeed slain, Sephiroth turned to tend to his wounded comrades.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had set, and the sky had clouded over since. The only light in the pitch black came from the campfire, giving the three figures an orange glow.

Cloud sat watching the fire, the glow of his eyes contrasting with the fire's. Although he tried not to show it, he was very worried for the well-being of Aerith, Red, and even Sephiroth. Cloud, like most Gaians, knew that Midgar Zoloms were to be avoided at any cost. While he tried to remain optimistic, he had a creeping feeling in his gut that maybe... just maybe, even Sephiroth might not be able to defeat one of the dangerous creatures.

Tifa and Barret had also said very little. Truthfully, there was little that could be said. They too knew what sorts of dangers that they were facing crossing the marshes by foot. Until they heard from them via PHS, all they could do was sit and wait.

The silence was broken shortly thereafter by the ringing of Cloud's PHS. He immediately snapped it open.

"Did you make it?" he immediately asked.

"_We have arrived at the other side," _Sephiroth's calm voice answered from the other end.

Cloud sighed audibly in relief. Tifa and Barret looked at each other with smiles on their faces, knowing that there was good news.

"Are you all alright?" Cloud then asked.

Silence for a moment, and then a burst of static. _"We encountered a Midgar Zolom about an hour ago," _Sephiroth replied. _"We had some injuries, however thanks to Aerith's... unique skills, it appears they are no longer an issue."_

Cloud's eyes widened at the mention of a Zolom. He had, perhaps naively, hoped that they would be lucky and not encounter one of the beasts. Aerith's unique healing abilities, while miraculous, were already known to Cloud. She had called upon them a couple times in the past when their needs were great. Suffice it to say, they owed her much for her skills.

"How difficult was the Zolom?" Cloud asked then.

Sephiroth gave a light chuckle on the other end. _"I wouldn't recommend trying to engage one, Strife," _he responded with a touch of humor in his voice. _"My abilities were considerably tested by its sheer strength and size, not to mention its affinity for fire-based magics."_

Cloud shook his head and smirked. Sephiroth knew him all too well. "I'll take your word for it, General," he said. "We will meet with you tomorrow, after we obtain some chocobos to make the crossing."

"_I'm not a General anymore, Cloud," _Sephiroth reminded him. _"In any case, we will await your arrival here. Look for the large, black corpse next to a tree. We will be to the northeast, by the mountains, near the entrance to the mines."_

Cloud shook his head. "You actually kept a trophy, Sephiroth? How unlike you," he quipped.

The sound of static on the other end for several moments.

"_This Zolom wasn't left here by me, Strife."_

XXXXXXXXXX

"That lil' twerp wuz askin for it, I'm tellin' ya, Spike!"

"Barret, calm down, please..."

"Whatever. Let's go figure out how this materia works..."

Cloud's group arrived at Choco Bill's farm around noon the next day. After finding out, to their dismay, that there were no chocobos available for rent, they were told they could capture wild ones a short distance from the farm. Of course, with the proper items.

Unfortunately for them, they were now almost completely broke. Choco Bill's son, Billy, had sold them a materia that he claimed would "attract" chocobos, and some greens so the birds could be tamed and ridden. Billy had also charged them for the items they needed at an exorbitant amount. Having no choice, Cloud had handed over the ridiculous sum of gil to the boy, hence the party's frustrations.

After a short time, the trio found a large amount of chocobo tracks in the fields.

"Okay... let's try this out," Cloud said, as he channeled his spiritual energy into the purple materia.

Tifa stood silently, hands clasped behind her back as Cloud concentrated, watching him intently.

Barret stood beside her with an air of boredom and indifference.

After a while, Barret finally spoke up.

"Nothin's happenin'."

Cloud scrunched his face in annoyance. "I don't understand it... I'm doing everything that Billy told me to... ugh."

Tifa walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder in a supportive gesture. "It's okay, Cloud. Do you want me to try?" she asked.

Cloud sighed in frustration. "This makes no sense..."

Barret spotted a herd of yellow slowly coming over a hill in the distance then, and grinned. "Hey Spikey, look! It's yer long lost cousins comin' to say hey!" he guffawed.

Cloud gave Barret a dirty look, but then spotted them himself. Tifa smiled and patted Cloud's shoulder.

"I knew you could do it, Cloud!" she said brightly.

Cloud scratched his head in mild embarrassment, and then turned to the pouch on his belt. He took out two burlap bags of greens and handed one to Tifa and Barret.

"I'm going to continue concentrating on the materia so they won't get spooked and run immediately," Cloud explained. "You two will need to feed three of them some greens to tame them to ride. Remember, no loud noises or commotion, or they'll run, materia or no."

Tifa took one of the bags and faced the approaching chocobos with determination. Barret was not so enthusiastic, but he took the other nonetheless.

"I ain't likin' this..."

XXXXXXXXXX

Things hadn't gone as smoothly as they had liked, as it was already approaching dusk when they began crossing the marshes on their chocobos. Barret's lack of skill and enthusiasm had hurt his attempts to feed the skittish birds, while Tifa had managed to wrangle two with little problems. Barret's problems had been compounded by Cloud's PHS ringing loudly in his pocket, causing his concentration to be broken and the remaining birds to scatter. After a short conversation with Aerith, who was inquiring as to their progress, Cloud once again began the process of channeling the materia. In the end, Tifa had wrangled all three birds for the trio.

The trip across the marshes was tense but uneventful. The birds were sure-footed and had no problem seeing them quickly across the marshes. If there were any Zoloms nearby, they did not show themselves.

The blob they had seen in the distance grew as they approached until they stopped, just past the marshes, at a large, blackened, dead tree with a massive, charred husk of a dead Zolom unceremoniously tossed in front of it.

"So, this is what Sephiroth was talking about..." Cloud mused.

Barret gawked at the corpse in morbid awe. "That's jus' fucked up," he grumbled.

Tifa looked upon it with a sense of fear and dread. Instinctually, she knew who had done this gruesome deed.

Having seen their fill, the trio turned northeast towards the mountainside, where Sephiroth, Aerith and Red would be waiting.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had long since set, and a large, raging fire was burning at the campsite as the reunited parties sat in a large circle around it, eating another of Tifa's delicious stews. The reunion had been joyous, yet brief, as the tired riders had quickly set about helping set camp in the rapidly declining daylight.

As the AVALANCHE members, the ex-SOLDIERs, and the feline sat, enjoying the heat and meal, Cloud turned to Sephiroth, who was quietly finishing his stew.

"Sephiroth, can I ask you something?"

Sephiroth raised his head briefly to meet Cloud's gaze, and inclined his head slightly in the affirmative.

Cloud paused a moment, as if reluctant. "What happened to you after the incident in Nibelheim?"

Sephiroth paused for a moment, and then resumed eating, thinking about how he would answer. He spent several moments chewing, far more than was realistically necessary, before he finally answered.

"I do not remember very well," he finally said. "My memories after my encounter with Genesis are... jumbled and confused."

Cloud looked down, but nodded. "You too, huh?" he said with understanding. "Mine too. It's all really confusing."

Sephiroth shared a gaze with Tifa, who gave him a small smile in thanks. He didn't feel comfortable lying to the confused man sitting before him, but he was still not sure exactly how to handle Cloud's mental delusions. He carried himself far too much like Zack to be coincidence. It was almost some sort of personality transference, as if he literally thought he was Zack Fair. He was no expert in psychology, so until he knew more, he would test Cloud's mental limits as little as possible.

XXXXXXXXXX

Some distance away, at the mouth to the entrance of the Mithril Mines, a figure, shrouded by the shadows, watched the party's interactions with keen interest. They raised a cell phone to their ear, listened for a moment, and spoke quietly.

"I understand, Tseng."

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: Once again, I haven't had the chance to proofread this much, so if you notice any glaring errors, please let me know. In any case, please review! I appreciate it!


	12. Chapter 12

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 12

'_Pain... so much pain...'_

He tried to open his eyes. The harsh sun glared down upon his battered form as he squinted against the light and through the agony that seared every bone in his body.

'_I can't move. Why can I not move?'_

His bloodied brow furrowed as he tried to remember what happened. The pain made it difficult to focus on any one thing, however.

'_How did I... how long have I been like this? This pain... I have never felt so much pain before...'_

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of boots crunching on gravel and earth revived him again. The sun beat even fiercer upon his beaten body as he silently cursed his inability to move.

A shadow blocked the harsh light then. He opened his eyes and tried to focus. He wished he hadn't.

"Well well, this day just keeps getting better, doesn't it Tseng?"

Sephiroth turned his head slightly to the sound of a second person approaching. A man in a black suit, standing next to the first in a white coat.

"Yes, sir."

A laugh then, as Hojo regarded him with a smile, hands behind his back. "Poor boy. I thought I taught you better than this."

'_I have to get out of here... I have to... I cannot... not again...'_

Hojo's smile vanished as he pulled out a wicked looking syringe, filled with a green liquid.

"Restrain him. He comes with me."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Did you not hear me clearly the first time, _Turk?_"

Consciousness returned slowly once again. Hojo was yelling at someone.

"I received no such orders, Professor. You have no authorization to hold them here."

Sounded like Tseng. His usual restrained voice was forced, it seemed.

A slam of something hitting a table.

"These orders come from President Shinra himself!" Hojo's voice reached a nearly shrill tone. "They are to be held here under my supervision indefinitely! Do not argue with me!"

The rustle of paper. A moment of silence.

"I see... so that is how it is."

"This ain't right, boss, and you know it. This ain't gonna just blow over..." Another voice, less disciplined.

"They are orders, Reno." A fourth voice, calm and quiet.

"Fuck, Rude, I know that man! Urgggh..."

A cackling laugh. "Listen to your bald friend, Turk." Hojo said with glee. "They will be declared dead. Make up something about how they were heroes in battle, I don't care."

A sigh. "Reno, Rude. Let's go. We need to return to Midgar." The sound of three pairs of feet leaving.

Hojo shuffled next to him. "Welcome home, my boy."

A feeling he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

_Despair._

XXXXXXXXXX

'_How much time had passed? How long have I been here?'_

This was a familiar place. Floating in a tube of mako. Scientists poring over their calculations and their computers in front of him, oblivious to his being conscious. Perhaps they just didn't care.

He turned his head slowly to the left as he surveyed the area. Beside him floated a shorter, blond man, unconscious.

To the right, floated a taller man. Black hair. Also unconscious.

He noticed movement in the corner of his eye. He turned forward. Hojo stood before him, and smiled.

"Let's get started, Sephiroth. We have a lot of work to do."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sephiroth bolted upright, green eyes wide and his heart racing. It took him a moment to regain his senses. He was not in Hojo's lab. He was not being held against his will. At least, not anymore. It had all been a dream, albeit a very real recollection of the past.

Dawn was just breaking, he noticed. After having taken the first watch, he had quickly fallen asleep. That in itself was odd, as Sephiroth was not one for needing much sleep. The fact he had slept deeply enough to have such a vivid dream was even more strange.

He then sensed movement, as Aerith padded quietly towards him. She must have noticed his abrupt awakening. She had insisted on taking a watch, as their team had plenty of opportunity to rest the previous day while waiting for Cloud's party to arrive. There had been plenty of opposition to the idea, but she had been stubborn, and finally got her way. In the end, she had been assigned last watch.

Aerith gave him a worried smile as she kneeled before him. "Is everything alright?" she asked him quietly.

"It is nothing. Do not concern yourself."

Aerith's worried smile didn't disappear as she lightly shook her head. "You were talking in your sleep, Sephiroth. The one thing you said clearly was... Hojo."

Sephiroth met Aerith's gaze. There was a look of understanding in her eyes, he noticed. Perhaps... he could tell this young woman, at least a little bit.

"...I was held by Professor Hojo and his team for nearly five years, and experimented upon."

Aerith's eyes widened in shock. "You were... held? What did they do to you?"

Sephiroth lowered his head and looked at his lap. "My memories of that time are fragmented and difficult to recall. The things I remember most vividly through them all are the moments of... burning pain and agony."

Aerith's green eyes swelled with tears. "By the Planet, I'm so sorry... how could they..."

Sephiroth regarded the young woman with slight shock at her reaction. "There is no need for you to apologize," he told her in confusion. "You were not at fault for my treatment. ShinRa was."

Aerith sniffled and rubbed her eyes, but they still shone with unshed tears. "Yes... I know that, but... I know what it's like to be kept prisoner like that too."

That got Sephiroth's attention. "You were a captive of Hojo's as well?"

She nodded. "Yes. When I was a little girl, myself and my mother were held by ShinRa for nearly seven years. We managed to escape, thanks to someone I can't remember. My mother was shot while we were trying to escape and died in Sector Seven... and... then my mom, well, the woman who found us took me in and looked after me ever since."

Sephiroth was quiet for several moments as he watched this young woman with a newfound sense of respect. Beneath her quiet, cheerful exterior lay someone far stronger than he had realized.

"It seems Hojo has much more to pay for than I realized," he remarked quietly. "He will not go unpunished, Aerith. I promise you."

Aerith's smile returned slightly. "Thank you, Sephiroth."

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the party had awoken soon after, and thanks to Aerith's delicious meal of oatmeal and dried fruit, the group was satiated and ready to make the journey through the long, winding caverns of the abandoned Mithril Mines.

"So..." Cloud began as he turned to the assembled party of six at the entrance to the dark mines. "Has anyone here been through here before and happen to know an efficient route to the Junon exit?"

Sephiroth nodded. "I have, although it has been many years."

Barret stepped forward and coughed. "Yea, I worked here years ago myself," he spoke up. "Wuz a long time ago, though. ShinRa did some trainin' on minin' operations here when I wuz 'bout sixteen in a base camp 'bout halfway between the Junon and Marsh exits."

Sephiroth placed a gloved hand to his chin as he thought about it. "Indeed. I remember there being a base of operations and living quarters dug into the mines, although I am certain it would be long since abandoned by now."

While the two men discussed their experiences in the mines, Cloud couldn't help but have an odd feeling he too had been through the Mithril Mines before. He couldn't place it, but it nagged at him.

Shaking off his feelings of deja vu, Cloud spoke up. "Alright, Barret and Sephiroth, you two lead the way. Aerith and Red, take center and handle the bulk of the materia, and Tifa and I will bring up the rear. Sound good?"

Everyone voiced their agreement with that, and after redistributing their supply of materia and various healing supplies, the renegades began their long trip through the mines.

XXXXXXXXXX

The majority of the monsters that now inhabited the Mithril Mines were absolutely no challenge to the skilled group, as they plowed effortlessly through them. After about a half dozen encounters with various packs of Crawlers, Ark Dragons, Madouges, and Castanets, the clearly outnumbered and outgunned creatures wisely gave them a wide berth and left them alone.

"Shit. Almost outta ammo again."

Tifa sighed as she heard Barret's complaint ahead of her. "I keep telling you to stock up whenever we get a chance, you know," Tifa called to him with a tinge of frustration. "If you ran out of bullets, what would you do then?"

Barret threw a right hook with his gun arm and shadow boxed a bit as they walked. "I'd jes' put my hook attachment on and bash 'em in the face!"

Sephiroth raised a silver eyebrow as he glanced at Barret, and smirked lightly. "Crude... but I suppose the monsters would not expect it. A three hundred pound man with a massive hooked hand would likely frighten most of them away."

Barret stopped dead and turned to Sephiroth. "Wazzat supposed to mean, Mister Hotshot General? An' I'm not no fuckin' three hundred, I'm two seventy!"

Sephiroth began walking again, his smirk widening slightly. "My mistake. Apologies."

Barret started shaking with rage. "Now jes' wait a damn minute, you silver-haired..."

Aerith put a hand on Barret's quaking arm. "It's okay, Mr. Barret," she said softly. "Sephiroth's just kidding. Right, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth just raised a gloved hand as he continued down the tunnel. Barret released a massive sigh.

"It's jes' Barret, I told ya..."

Red watched their interaction with interest. Human social aspects still puzzled him. Still, this was not exactly a safe place, and with Sephiroth having turned a corner out of sight a short time ago and the rest of the group still trying to pacify Barret, they would be quickly left behind.

"We should probably keep going, everyone," he spoke up, quieting their conversation. "Sephiroth has continued on without us."

Cloud just shook his head. "Let's catch up to him."

XXXXXXXXXX

When the rest of the group caught up with Sephiroth, they all stopped in their tracks and immediately went on guard, drawing their weapons.

Sephiroth had his sword drawn, facing three Turks, their guns drawn and pointed at Sephiroth's head.

Cloud began advancing, but Sephiroth turned back to face him. "Don't come any closer!" he commanded.

Knowing it was in their best interests to do so, Cloud backed off, but did not lower his guard.

One of the Turks stepped forward, a Wutaian man.

"We're not here to fight you," he said in a soothing tone.

Clearly, nobody believed him, as not one of them lowered their weapons.

"What do you want, Tseng?" Sephiroth demanded.

Tseng lowered his gun, and turned to the other two, a bald man and a blond woman. "Lower your weapons," he told them.

"But, Tseng... they're AVALANCHE!" the blond, Elena, protested.

"...It's alright, Elena," the bald man, Rude, told her quietly.

Clearly confused, Elena did as she was told. Tseng turned back to Sephiroth. "We're just here to talk," he continued.

Sephiroth eyed Tseng warily. "Do I have your word?" he asked after a moment.

Tseng nodded as he holstered his gun. "You have my word, General."

Sephiroth paused for several moments, then looked back at the rest of the group as he sheathed Masamune. "I believe him," he told them. "You can lower your weapons."

Barret nearly gaped at Sephiroth. "You must be kiddin'!" he bellowed. "They the ones who killed all them people in Sector Seven!"

Tseng's head lowered at that. "It is regretful what happened in Sector Seven, but in the end, orders are orders."

Barret started shaking with rage again. "Regretful? I'll show you regretful, you ShinRa dogs!"

Cloud stood in front of Barret and held both his shoulders forcefully. "Not now, Barret," he whispered fiercely. "We'll have our chance to make ShinRa pay, but now isn't the time!"

Barret said nothing, but lowered his gun arm and glued his eyes to the ground, still shaking with emotion.

Tseng raised his head again and faced Sephiroth. "I understand you are all pursuing the renegade Genesis Rhapsodos?" he asked.

Sephiroth inclined his head in the affirmative. "We are. What of it?"

Elena stepped forward. "President Rufus is hoping we can be of assistance to one another!" she piped up.

Tseng gave his subordinate a shadowed glare. "Elena..."

Elena blushed, and stepped back. "I'm... I'm sorry sir..."

Cloud frowned as he stepped forward beside Sephiroth. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

Tseng sighed. "What Elena was trying to say was, we all appear to be working towards a common goal," he elaborated. He pulled what appeared to be a set of photos out of his pocket and tossed it to the two ex-SOLDIERs. "Those are some photos one of our aerial surveillance drones took, shortly before it met an untimely demise."

Sephiroth bent and picked up the photos, and looked at them one at a time. His eyes widened in shock.

"What... is this?" he breathed as he showed them to Cloud.

Tseng's expression drew grim. "As you can see, Genesis appears to be in much better health," he noted as the rest of the party began looking at the photos, with each of them becoming shocked, disturbed, or a combination of both as they realized what they were looking at.

Tifa's shock grew into a feeling of despair as she realized what she was looking at. "Clones..." she finally managed to say, her voice shaking. "Dozens of Genesis clones..."

Red shook his furry mane. "Clones... such things cannot be of the Planet, can they?"

Barret's expression was grim. "This is some fucked up shit, man..." he finally said, as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He looked over at the three Turks. "You sure this ain't some kinda ShinRa trick to fool us inta' lowerin' our guard?" he demanded.

"It's real..." Cloud said quietly, but loud enough for Barret to face him quizzically. "I've seen these clones before."

"I have too..." Tifa added shakily.

Tseng crossed his arms. "This is no trick," he told the assembled group. "There have already been reports of an attack conducted by a large amount of these clones."

Rude cleared his throat and pushed his sunglasses up his nose. "...Fort Condor was completely destroyed."

Sephiroth's expression didn't change at that news, although the rest of the group let out gasps. "There was a reactor at Fort Condor, was there not?" he asked Tseng.

"There was nothing left," Tseng said quietly. "ShinRa had several squadrons of troops and machinery stationed at the base of the Fort, and there were a sizeable amount of rebel troops garrisoned there. The clones relentlessly slaughtered both the ShinRa troops and the rebels, and razed the entire area. There was nothing left worth salvaging."

Cloud stepped forward towards Tseng. "When did this happen?" he demanded.

Tseng didn't flinch. "Three days ago."

Sephiroth was lost in thought for several moments as the rest of the group spoke in hushed whispers amongst themselves, discussing this newest information in apprehensive tones.

"What are you proposing, Tseng?" he finally asked.

"An alliance," Tseng replied bluntly. "If Genesis and his clones are not stopped with all due haste, there may be nothing left for you AVALANCHE to 'save'. President Rufus Shinra is offering the assistance of one of us Turks, in addition to our own operations, to track and take down Genesis."

Cloud's expression drew confused. "What do you mean, 'one of us Turks'?"

Rude coughed lightly. "...it would be an undercover operation."

Tseng nodded. "Officially, you are still enemies of ShinRa Corporation, and would be treated as such by any rank-and-file you may come across, as we cannot publicly be working together with a terrorist organization," he elaborated. "You would have a Turk assigned to you as an undercover member of your team, and in exchange we would share information relating to Genesis."

Barret shook his head vigorously. "I don't like th' sound of that!" he protested vehemently. "Havin' some ShinRa suit spyin' on us so ya'll can jus' come and capture us whenever ya all wan'ta!"

Red sniffed. "I would really not want to be captured by ShinRa again..." he commented.

Tifa looked down with conflicted emotions. "I don't know... I kind of agree with Barret..." she said after a moment.

Aerith stepped forward and looked at Tseng. "...can we trust you, Tseng?" she asked him.

Tseng's expression softened as his face grew somber with regret. "I cannot change what I did, Aerith..." he told her. "I promise you, we have no ill intent. We will not capture you again."

Aerith's green eyes met Tseng's dark ones as she appeared to study his face. After a moment, she nodded. "Okay, I believe you."

Tifa looked at the flower girl with worry. "Are you sure, Aerith?" she asked. "They took you away and locked you up once already..."

Aerith gave Tifa a smile. "It's okay, Tifa," she reassured the brawler. "I know Tseng, and I believe he means it."

Cloud and Sephiroth each mulled over the information that they had been given. They turned to each other.

"What do you think, Strife?" Sephiroth asked first.

Cloud frowned. "If what they say is true, who knows where these clones will hit next..." he replied. "It might be in our best interests to go with it for now and accept their proposal, albeit with caution, and watch the Turk they assign to us very closely for any signs of betrayal."

Sephiroth was slightly shocked and impressed at Cloud's well thought out analysis. He nodded in agreement. "I concur," he said. With that, he turned back to the waiting Turks.

"Very well, we accept," he told Tseng, his green eyes narrowed. "Be aware, if there is any sign of deceit on your part, we will not hesitate to take the appropriate actions."

Tseng smiled slightly at that. "Of course, I would not expect anything less," he agreed. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened it, pressing a button. After a moment, he spoke.

"They have agreed. You can come out now," was all he said, and then he hung up.

Sephiroth frowned. "Who are you assigning to us?" he inquired.

"That would be me," a voice called out.

A figure came walking down from behind the three Turks and came to a stop in front of them, giving them a smile. She was a short redhead in a Turks suit, carrying a large shuriken.

"You can call me Cissnei. I look forward to working with all of you."

XXXXXXXXXX

_AN: And one of my favorite characters in the entire FFVII compilation, Cissnei, makes her appearance. It's a shame Square-Enix never elaborated to what happened to her after Crisis Core that I am aware of, but at least that leaves the door open for me to bring her into the story without any fuss._

_Also, for those of you interested, I'm going to share a few technicalities with the FFVII universe with you, and how they will be presented in the story. Firstly, single-spell materia found in Crisis Core will be considered manufactured materia for the purposes of the plot, while multi-spell materia is considered naturally-formed. The materia that the group has so far is all manufactured materia, but they will find more powerful natural ones later on of course. Also, for the purposes of the plot, limit breaks don't exist, perhaps with the exception of Vincent when we encounter him. They will be treated as standard techniques that they use in battle, however the strongest ones could be considered limit breaks in that they might only use them out of desperation, such as Omnislash, Octaslash, or Final Heaven._


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: In case anyone didn't know already, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 13

The reaction to the addition of the young, unremarkable female Turk had been mixed at best. Sephiroth instantly recognized her and knew that if she held her end of the bargain, she would be an excellent addition to their group. Tifa was much more guarded and wary with the loss of her friends in Sector Seven not far from her mind. Red, while cautious, sensed no malice from the young woman, and so did not object. Barret was loudly vocal, but settled down eventually and just grumbled to himself instead. Cloud's reaction was... for the lack of a better term, he had none.

Cissnei had immediately recognized Cloud when she introduced herself to the ragtag band of unlikely allies. She had noticed no recognition on his part, however, and so decided to ask him a bit later as the group headed towards the abandoned facilities nearby, after the party made their introductions.

"I'm glad to see you made it okay, Cloud," she remarked neutrally a few moments after the party became silent again.

Cloud's brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "Um... thanks, I guess," he replied after a moment.

Cissnei paused for just a moment, and then asked, to her, a completely innocent question.

"Did Zack make it too?"

The instant Zack's name was mentioned, Cloud's head was wracked with pain, and he doubled over, moaning. His eyes rolled back into his head as he held his head and convulsed.

"Cloud!" Tifa and Aerith cried out in shock at the same time Tifa dropped her sack in a flurry and ran to aid her friend, with Aerith hot on her heels, nearly tripping over herself in her haste to reach the fallen man. Red, while also quite alarmed by the sudden development, kept his calm and followed after the two women to see if he could be of any assistance.

Barret watched with his mouth agape for a short moment before he focused his attention toward Cissnei and thundered towards the young Turk in anger. "Wut did ya do ta him, Turk?" he demanded loudly. Cissnei looked up at Barret's angry face briefly, before looking at Cloud's startling reaction in shock, barely able to keep her face neutral on the outside through training and sheer willpower.

"I didn't do anything. What's wrong with him?" she asked Barret quietly after a moment.

Sephiroth walked up to the big man and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. "It is not her fault, Barret," he told Barret calmly. "We must get Cloud to the old facility, and hopefully find some shelter to tend to him quickly."

Barret felt that, given the circumstances, he had little choice but to believe the ex-General for the time being. He gave Cissnei an "I'm watchin' you" parting statement, and then went to see if he could help Tifa, Aerith and Red, who were tending to Cloud.

Sephiroth gave Cissnei a piercing glare. "It would be best if you do not mention Zack Fair around Mr. Strife, Turk," he told her sharply.

Not the least bit intimidated by Sephiroth's gaze or tone, she gave him a quizzical look in return. "Is there something I should know, General?" she asked in return.

Knowing his usual methods of getting what he wanted never seemed to work with Turks, whether they were half his size and weight or otherwise, he sighed audibly instead. "I will explain once we get to camp," he conceded after several moments.

Satisfied, Cissnei gave Sephiroth a small smile, and then went to help the rest of the group with Cloud.

XXXXXXXXXX

A short time later, the group came across the abandoned facility within the heart of the Mithril Mines. While in a clear state of disrepair and disuse, it was still in remarkably good shape, given the monster population residing within the mines. They appeared to give the ruins a wide berth and did not approach them, as there was no sign of anything, monster or otherwise, having come through in some time.

Sephiroth, along with Aerith, Tifa and Red, entered what appeared to be the remnants of a small first aid building. He had been the one chosen to carry Cloud's unconscious form until they reached a safe haven. After Tifa determined that the single cot in the corner was stable, he gently placed Cloud on it.

"I will leave his care to you three," he told them. "Let me know when he regains consciousness."

Tifa managed to give Sephiroth a small smile. "Thank you, I will," she replied.

Aerith placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to cheer up the worried brawler. "He'll be okay, he's tougher than you might think," she told Tifa encouragingly. "He fell all the way from the upper plate through the church roof in the slums and came out okay, so something like this is nothing to him!"

Red gave the two women a confused look, cocking his head sideways as if trying to fathom what they had said. "Fell... through a roof?" he asked.

Aerith graced the big cat with a small grin. "Yeah. He just came falling through a hole in the roof that... well, he just came out of nowhere, and landed on my flowers! He was really lucky they broke his fall from such a height."

Tifa gave a sad smile at the memory. "We had sabotaged the reactor above the Sector Five slums, where Aerith's church was. The catwalk gave way after a robot we were fighting exploded, and Cloud fell through... to the slums below. We thought... there was no chance he could survive such a fall."

"I... guess I'm tougher than I look, like Aerith said..."

"Cloud!" Tifa cried out, tears immediately welling in her eyes as she knelt before him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... I just have a really bad headache," he complained quietly, holding his head gingerly.

While Aerith and Tifa were tending to Cloud, Sephiroth turned to leave, but paused for a moment.

"I need to speak with you," he said quietly, just loud enough for the cat to hear.

Nodding, Red padded after the ex-General.

XXXXXXXXX

"Crazy ShinRa bastards, leavin' perfectly good ammo layin' 'round fer so long," Barret grumbled as he and Cissnei rummaged through a small cache of abandoned military items and mining equipment she had found while scouting the area.

Examining various crates, Cissnei looked up at the large man. "The weapons do not appear to be functional, but most of this ammunition does appear to be salvageable," she told him, glancing at his gun-arm attachment. "What caliber ammo does your gun use?"

Barret glanced at the Turk critically, as if wondering if she should even tell her what kind of ammo his gun-arm attachment used. "Uh, it uses 10 millimeter cartridges," he finally answered.

Cissnei smiled at him, and then began looking for a specific crate in the pile. "That would be .40 caliber, then."

Barret scratched his head. "Yeah. I don't bother usin' them fancy ShinRa terms, calabur or caliber or whateva'," he said sheepishly. "In Corel, we all used the ol' way of measurin' things, 'stead of the ShinRa ways."

Cissnei paused her search and glanced up at Barret. "Believe it or not, there are quite a few engineers at ShinRa who still insist on using the classical measurements instead of the modern ones," she noted. "In fact, I heard that one of the main engineers of the Midgar project insisted on using old measurements instead of the new ones that ShinRa had instituted."

Barret snorted a laugh at that. "I'm guessin' that caused some trouble for 'em," he mused.

"Still does, even now... aha, here we go."

Having found what she was looking for, Cissnei pulled a small tool out of one of her pockets and deftly cracked open the sealed crate containing the cartridges Barret needed. The large man gave a small whistle once he saw the contents.

"Daaaaamn... there's 'nuff ammo in there t' last me a long time!"

While Barret pored over the contents of the modestly large crate nearly packed to the brim with ammunition, Cissnei turned to see Sephiroth and the talking cat she recognized as one of Professor Hojo's odd experiments.

"Did we come at a bad time?" the ex-General asked in way of greeting, noticing Barret rummaging through the crate, completely oblivious.

Cissnei stifled a small laugh with her hand as Barret somehow nearly knocked over the large crate, cursing loudly as he scrambled to right it. "No, nothing at all, General," she replied. "Just getting Mr. Wallace restocked with ammunition, that's all."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I see."

Red sat on his haunches and peered up at Sephiroth. "Did we not have something we needed to discuss with the Turk?" he asked.

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, we do have something we need to discuss in a more private venue, if possible."

Sensing the serious tone to his voice, Cissnei immediately was all business. "Right," she said, acknowledging his request. "I will be back shortly, Mr. Wallace," she called to Barret.

"Yea, 'kay," Barret answered absently, not pausing in his work.

The Turk beckoned to Sephiroth and Red.

"Over here should be sufficient," she told them, taking the lead.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So... you think Hojo's experimentation on you three has something to do with Cloud's odd behavior and convulsions?" Cissnei asked a bit later after listening to Sephiroth's explanations.

"It is very possible," Sephiroth answered, his arms folded across his chest. "The additional facts that he does not have any recollection of our time within the mansion, his delusions of being a SOLDIER 1st class, and his incorrect recollection of past events where he seems to be taking the place of Zack all point to some disturbing possibilities."

"Cloud seems to possess the strength and characteristics of SOLDIERs I have seen in the past," Red pointed out, huffing loudly. "I would dare say he may even be stronger than most, barring perhaps yourself, Sephiroth."

The ex-General's brow furrowed in thought. "I do not know what Hojo did to us in those five years," he admitted. "It would not be outside the realm of possibility that Mr. Strife was forcefully put through the SOLDIER augmentation process, or at least some version of it, during our incarceration."

Cissnei lowered her head. "Reno told me the story a few weeks after he returned from Nibelheim with Rude and Tseng," she said quietly. "They were ordered to let you three be held by Hojo and be experimented upon as much as the Professor willed it. We were even given an order by the President spread a fantastic story about how you three were killed in battle as heroes, battling AVALANCHE and stopping them from sabotaging the reactor there."

Sephiroth gave a humorless chuckle. "That explains a lot," he said dryly.

Cissnei nodded, looking back up at him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also noticed that Cloud is carrying Zack's sword with him..." she added.

Sephiroth shook his head. "I do not know why he has the Buster Sword either," he admitted. "The fact that he even has it, and the added factor that there has been no sign or sightings of Zack Fair... we must assume the worst for now."

Cissnei made a fist, shaking with rarely displayed emotion. "We... I mean, the Turks, we were ordered to find you three after you escaped," she said quietly. "After reports, obviously untrue now of course, that you had been subdued, we... Tseng had us try to find Zack and Cloud... to help them."

Red and Sephiroth both gave the Turk their full attention after hearing her admission. "What happened?" Sephiroth demanded sharply.

"We... we were too late," she finally managed. "Heidigger gave us direct orders to return to Midgar, saying that the army had 'taken care of the problem'..."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "Clearly, the incompetence of the army is as grand as ever," he spat out bitterly. "Strife managed to survive, that much is obvious. The question remains, what of Fair?"

Cissnei just shook her head. "I wish I knew. Tseng has Reno and Rude out looking whenever they don't have other assignments, but there has been no sign yet."

Silence washed over the three as they mulled over what they had learned. After several moments, Sephiroth gave an audible sigh.

"Regardless of whatever has happened, we must try to make no mention of Zack around Mr. Strife until we can determine what is causing his mental instabilities," he said, looking at Cissnei as he spoke.

"Right. I understand."

XXXXXXXXXX

Upon returning to the facility proper, the three were mildly surprised to find Cloud appearing no worse for the wear, arguing with Tifa, Barret, and Aerith.

"You really need to get some rest, Cloud!" Aerith protested.

Cloud sighed loudly and scratched his head. "I'm telling you, I feel fine..."

Barret gave Cloud a piercing look, doubt etched on his bearded face. "You ain't gunna go n' faint on us again, are ya Spike?" he demanded.

Cloud immediately matched Barret's look. "I'm telling you, I'm fine!" he said again, frustration growing in his voice.

Tifa's brown eyes shone with worry. "Are you sure...?" she asked worriedly. "We have no problem staying here until morning, you know."

Cloud sighed. "Tifa..."

Sephiroth chose that moment to clear his throat loudly to announce his presence as he and his two companions approached. "Strife, how are you feeling?" he asked, walking up to the shorter man.

"I feel perfectly fine," Cloud answered immediately, matching the ex-General's gaze. "We can head out anytime."

Sephiroth said nothing for a moment, and then turned to Barret. "Have you completed your resupplying of ammunition, Mr. Wallace?" he asked Barret.

Barret pointed down at his massive belt, which appeared to be nearly sagging at the weight of the ammo cartridges. "Yea, I got 'nuff ammo to last us til Junon at least, I figure, mebbe longer if we careful 'bout how many crazy monsters we come 'cross," he answered, clearly pleased he was sufficiently stocked now.

Sephiroth turned to Cissnei. "Any other items or acquisitions to report?" he asked her.

Cissnei shook her head. "Nothing much that we needed, besides some sealed canisters of low-grade mako for lamps. The rest was either too corroded or damaged to be of much use."

Nodding, he then set his attention on Aerith. "Do you feel that Cloud can continue?" he asked her.

Aerith's eyes shone with worry, but she gave him a small smile. "I... I think Cloud will be okay until we set camp tonight," she answered timidly.

Tifa opened her mouth to protest, but a nearly pleading look from Cloud caused her to silence her objections before they were voiced. She hoped that she was just worrying over nothing, after all.

Sephiroth appeared to mull over it for a moment, then glanced at Cloud. "Very well, Strife, if you feel you are up to continuing, let us do so with all haste."

Giving Sephiroth a nod in thanks, Cloud turned to address the group.

"Alright, let's gather our things and head out as soon as possible!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"I... don't remember these goddamn tunnels bein' so fuckin' long... n' steep... reminds me of them ShinRa buildin' stairs..."

Tifa and Cloud tried vainly to hold back snickers at Barret's loud complaining. Their trip up several dozen flights of stairs in the ShinRa Corporation building would be a trek they would not soon forget, not because of the length of the trip, but because of Barret's constant griping.

Red gave the nearly breathless man a look of pity. "I can smell grass in the air from ahead," he told Barret. "I do believe we are not far from the exit now."

Barret gave the cat a look of unabashed hope. "Thank the Planet, I hope yer right..." he wheezed, trudging a bit faster at that revelation.

Shaking his head, Red continued to follow behind, but then stopped short, fur standing on end in warning. Eye widening in shock and fear and adrenaline coursing through him in a sudden rush, he called forward to the rest of the group.

"We must run! Now!"

The rest of the group turned to look back at Red's panicked form in the rear. Sephiroth, Cloud, Tifa and Cissnei immediately raised their guard, looking for what had caused Red to shout in alarm.

Sephiroth's green eyes narrowed in realization as he listened. "We are being pursued again," he said grimly. He shared a glance at Cloud, noting that the young man appeared to have also sensed the huge mass of monsters approaching rapidly behind them.

Cloud began to run. "Let's move!" he commanded, grabbing Tifa's hand out of instinct and hauling her behind him at great speed.

"Damn man!" Barret cursed, wiping his good hand along his brow as he began to pick up the pace. "I'm gettin' too old for this shit..." Despite his complaints, the man had learned that, when it came to life and death situations, you didn't think about it. You just did. And so he ran.

Sephiroth briefly shared a glance with Aerith. Knowing what was going to happen, she merely gave a small squeak as Sephiroth deftly hoisted her up and began to run.

Cissnei and Red ran together. She spared a glance at the cat. Even with the Speed enhancing materia attached to Rekka, her shuriken, she was having a hard time keeping up with the swift beast.

"I take it this is not the first time you have been pursued like this by monsters," she commented.

"...no," he answered. "I have never seen monsters act in such a way before, either. It is greatly disturbing."

Cissnei said nothing, but knew that the cat was right. Monsters were never known to coordinate in such numbers, and as far as she knew, were never so relentless in their pursuit of a target. Generally, if one ran from most monsters, if they could outrun them, eventually even the most tenacious monster would give up eventually.

Unfortunately, the monsters were gaining on them. Quickly. Too quickly.

Seeing the exit ahead, Cissnei and Red upped their frantic pace a bit more, Red taking the lead. Suddenly looking behind her, she noticed with dread that Barret had fallen behind.

"Barret!" she gasped out.

The rest of the group having made it out of the tunnels, and Red frantically calling on them to hurry, Cissnei ran back to attempt to aid Barret. Her heart jumped in her chest at the sight of what was behind him.

The unholy mass of creatures were literally crawling over each other, mindless of their own well being. Their mass filled the tunnel behind them as far as she could see. They were literally only yards away.

"Barret! Take this!" she commanded, shoving her mastered Speed materia into an empty socket in Barret's forearm bangle. "I'll be right behind you!"

Knowing better than to argue and feeling the rush of the materia augmenting his limbs, Barret began running at a quicker pace towards the exit.

Cissnei, however, was not so lucky.

She knew that now, without her Speed materia, she would not make it in time. Holding Rekka in her hands, she faced the mass of monsters with a steely eye.

Barret looked behind him and couldn't believe it. That crazy little Turk girl was trying to take on that entire horde of monsters! He stopped short beside Red.

"Cmon, ya crazy Turk!" he bellowed, sweat pouring down his face.

Red light shone from her weapon as Cissnei threw her shuriken into the mob. She then turned and began running as fast as she could. "Go!" she yelled, willing her legs to go as fast as she possibly could.

A massive sound of wails and roars bellowed behind her as her weapon cleaved through the front of the wall of monsters, killing and injuring a large amount of them and slowing them down briefly as they attempted to trample through their dead and dying brethren. It had been a massive gamble on the Turk's part, but her gambit appeared to be doing what it needed to.

As Cissnei, Red and Barret ran outside the mouth of the Junon entrance to the mines, Rekka sailed out after them and flew into Cissnei's outstretched hand. Gasping for air and collapsing to one knee, she looked up at Sephiroth.

The ex-General stood facing the mouth of the cave with Cloud and Tifa flanking him, even though Tifa herself was severely winded from the run.

His eyes shone a bright green as he drove Masamune into the ground in front of him, channeling one of the materia attached.

Sephiroth's Quake spell rattled and shook the ground sharply beneath them, causing all but Sephiroth himself to lose their footing. The powerful tremors shook the very foundations of the mine entrance, swiftly causing a massive cave-in.

Choking and coughing, the exhausted group nonetheless kept their guard up and weapons at the ready as the dust slowly cleared. After several moments of silence only being broken by the occasional rolling boulder, Cloud glanced up at Sephiroth appreciatively.

"Nice one."

XXXXXXXXXX

Once it was clear that the collapsed mine tunnel had been sufficient enough to thwart their pursuers, the group gladly took a break before continuing into the nearby forests and setting up camp in a small, wooded clearing. Sephiroth had noted that the forests were safer than the fields to camp in, as ShinRa aircraft were commonplace in the area, and military drills and weapons testing were occasionally held in the fields. With the cover of the heavy trees, they would be at less risk of detection.

Cissnei had volunteered to gather kindling and firewood for a small fire. Exhausted as he was, Barret volunteered to go with her.

"Keeping your eye on me, are you?" she asked innocently, bending over to pick up some dry twigs and sticks.

Barret coughed, but didn't say anything at first. Cissnei looked up at him quizzically.

"It's okay if you are, I don't blame you, you know."

Barret shook his head. "Uh, well... I jes' wanted to... ya know, say thanks for savin' me back there 'n all," he finally admitted sheepishly, handing her the faintly glowing, purple Speed materia she had given him earlier.

Cissnei gave Barret a smile. "It's alright, Mr. Barret," she said, shaking her head. "You can keep that. I have another one back at HQ I can get later."

Barret's brow furrowed. "But... yer ShinRa, one of 'em Turks," he protested. "I'm part of AVALANCHE, so why would ya gimme somethin' valuable like this?"

Cissnei bent over to gather another piece of wood. "We're working together, aren't we?" she simply asked.

"Yea, well... it's jes' Barret. 'Mister' don't sound right."

XXXXXXXXXX

A short, spry figure watched the exchange with great interest, dark eyes gleaming. They fixated on the purple orb Barret placed in his bracer next to the other materia with barely concealed glee.

Stealthily, Yuffie Kisaragi retreated into the forest to plan her great heist. Soon, all that wonderful materia would be hers!

XXXXXXXXXX

_As always, if you notice any glaring problems with grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc, please let me know and I will correct it ASAP! I hope you enjoy this chapter as it's my longest yet. And, do please review and let me know what you think of the story! I'd greatly appreciate it!_


	14. Chapter 14

AN: I want to thank all of you for your patience with me in the lack of updates with this story. I've been exceptionally busy these past several months with work. Hopefully things will stay a bit less hectic so I can put out updates with reasonable frequency. Anyhow, like this needs to be said, but I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

Gift of the Goddess

Chapter 14

Sephiroth had not been sleeping well lately.

Try as he could to at least attempt to get some much-needed rest, his mind seemed to refuse him with its incessant need to be wrapped in constant thought. He often found himself dwelling far too much on the past. In particular, he noticed himself focusing much of his time on thoughts of the few people he once called friends.

Angeal, the man who for so many years had been the one who kept him steadied and focused. Admittedly, without Angeal, Sephiroth probably would have caused far more damage and destruction than just the repeated incidents in the training simulators. His views on honor were old and antiquated, but his loyalty to his friends and those he commanded had been unwavering. Regardless of what had happened five years ago, there was still to this day no one Sephiroth had trusted more than him.

Zack, the puppy. At first, Sephiroth had found the energetic raven-haired man to be a nuisance and annoyance. In time, however, he had grown fond of the young SOLDIER. Uncharacteristically, he had even granted Zack personal mentoring and sparring sessions on occasion. His energy and optimism had filled a hole in Sephiroth's heart he wasn't even aware was there until recently.

Genesis, the enigma and rival. While he was now clearly a madman and needed to be stopped, Genesis had once been the person that drove Sephiroth to do better, even though he had never admitted it. Their heated sparring matches were something of a legend within SOLDIER and ShinRa, but there was more fact to the legends than people realized. Their intense rivalries had even extended to the Wutai Wars, when the two Generals had constantly tried to outdo each other in battlefield performance; Genesis with his god-like skill with materia and fluid grace with the short sword, and Sephiroth with his balance of discreetly powerful spellcasting coupled with ruthless swordplay with the immense Masamune.

Now, Sephiroth found himself without all three of them. Angeal had since returned to the Planet, Genesis had succumbed to madness thanks to the entity called 'Jenova', and Zack was missing and presumed dead. As he sat before the small campfire while the rest of AVALANCHE slept, he found himself missing even Zack's boisterous antics.

He would have to wake Tifa shortly, he noted as he flipped open his PHS, the dull glowing numbers telling him it was near the end of his watch. Other than the slight rustle of the leaves from the occasional breeze, there had been no movement in the forest surrounding them, and the insects had not paused once in their nightly song.

Grunting softly as he stood, he began to make his way to Aerith and Tifa's tent. Something, however, made him stop. A figure openly approached, on guard as he was.

"There's something out there," Cissnei called in a whisper without meeting Sephiroth's gaze, on alert and keeping a stalwart vigil on the dark forest surrounding their campsite clearing.

Indeed, it had not been the Turk that had sent Sephiroth's senses on alert, as his battle-trained instincts told him that something was watching them. He could not, however, pinpoint where.

"Delta search pattern," Sephiroth told Cissnei, who nodded in understanding and pulled out a mako lamp. The two spread out in opposite directions, Cissnei searching with a light while Sephiroth used his enhanced eyesight to track his quarry unaided.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yuffie could barely contain her glee as she watched the short girl and the oddly-familiar tall man spread out to look for the decoy she had planted. Her distraction had worked perfectly! All her ninja training was finally starting to pay off! Soon, that old coot Godo would have no choice but to acknowledge her!

Satisfied that the guards were far enough away, Yuffie leaped silently off the tree she had been concealed in, and approached the tent where the dark-skinned man, the blond kid, and their pet cat-thing were. All that wonderful materia would soon be hers!

XXXXXXXXXX

Sephiroth was not happy. He had soon found the cause of the noise he had been hearing: a Wutaiian ninja-tool used for distraction and, in this case, to maim or even kill. It had been rigged to explode with paper bombs, a troublesome yet dangerously effective method of attack Wutai had killed many of Sephiroth's finest soldiers with. It was clear that they were dealing with a Wutaiian assassin or, even worse, perhaps a member or members of the Crescent Unit.

Having disarmed the offending booby trap with a precision low-level fire spell, he opened his PHS and called Cissnei. She picked up almost immediately.

"Cissnei here."

"Return to camp immediately. We were careless. Ignore everything else."

A small pause. "I know. On my way back now."

XXXXXXXXXX

Yuffie could not stop grinning. Everything was going her way! She had managed to find several rare and valuable materia of all kinds. The big man had a Speed materia, which she had equipped immediately. One at this level of mastery could go for nearly half a million gil, at least! The blond kid hadn't had too much, but she did find a nicely levelled Cure materia and several basic elemental offensive materia. She hadn't risked taking any from the weird cat though. It looked scary.

The well-endowed brunette (Yuffie was immensely jealous immediately) hadn't had anything useful, but Yuffie took it anyway. What excited Yuffie so much was the pure white materia she had found shining in the hair of the other woman. She couldn't figure out what it was no matter how hard she concentrated on it, but she could tell that it was definately a materia of great power. With this alone, she was certain she could restore Wutai to its former glory!

She was headed for the third tent to see what she could find, but she knew she had to be quick. She had heard the explosion of one of her decoys not long ago, and knew that while it would take a lot of luck to kill someone with a bomb that small, unless it had slowed the person down, they would likely be back soon.

Just as Yuffie was about to enter the third tent, the razor sharp tip of an impossibly long _odachi_ appeared, pointed at her neck. A shiver of pure fear surged through her as she then realized who the guard was. She was stealing from the camp of the _Silver Demon! _

"Don't move."

A feminine voice. Her eyes turned to see the other guard, the girl. She had a pistol pointed directly at her head.

This was more than Yuffie could rationally handle at once. So, she naturally did what any rational person would do.

First, she screamed.

"OMIGOD DON'T KILL MEEEEE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sephiroth and Cissnei were momentarily taken aback by the intruder, who after her initial outburst had regressed into a fit of hysterical sobs and rambling in Wutaiian. She had also woken the rest of the camp, who had come out bleary eyed, yet armed and alert, looking for the source of the disturbance. What they had come out of their tents to was Sephiroth and Cissnei with their weapons drawn, pointed at a girl collapsed on the ground in hysterics.

"Wha' in Hades is goin' on out here?" Barret bellowed as his sleep-addled mind tried to figure out what was going on.

Cloud's hair was stuck at more impossible angles than it usually was, if that could be believed. Nonetheless, he had come out with the Buster Sword at the ready. Seeing what the commotion was about, he lowered his weapon in confusion.

"Mind explaining what's going on here?" he asked, addressing the two.

Shaking his head at the girl, Sephiroth withdrew the Masamune from the girl's neck, confident that it was no longer needed for the time being. He did not, however, sheath the weapon. Years in Wutai had taught him that ninja were deceitful.

"The Turk and myself were put on alert and regrettably fooled by this girl's use of clever distractions. I am not certain what her purpose is or if she is working alone, but we need to be cautious."

Aerith watched the quivering girl sadly. She was feeling distracted by an odd hum coming from the Planet, though. It was as if it was trying to tell her something. After a moment of concentration, her green eyes widened slightly as she searched her hair frantically in vain. Her mother's materia was missing!

"What's wrong, Aerith?" Tifa whispered to the flower-girl.

Aerith looked at Tifa worriedly. "I think some of my materia is missing," she whispered back as she looked at her now-empty bangles adorning her wrists.

Indeed, after a quick check Tifa noticed that her bangles were too missing their usual colorful adornments. She growled quietly in anger.

"Sephiroth, I think I know why this girl was here. Our materia is missing!" she told the silver-haired man.

Sephiroth's piercing cat-like gaze intensified on the quivering young ninja. "Is this true, _dorobou_?" he asked, putting the emphasis on the Wutaiian word for "thief".

The girl's quivering halted for a split second, but then continued as she resumed her babbling. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed.

"You know who I am, don't you, girl?" he asked her then with a chilling tone.

A small nod.

"You know what I am capable of, don't you, girl?"

Two nods.

"I suggest you return what is ours. _Now._"

The ninja girl turned her fearful gaze up to the Silver Demon, his cat-like eyes feeling like they were boring into her soul.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!" she finally cried in Continental. "I'll return all your materia... just don't hurt me!"

Sephiroth gave a barely audible sigh, and nodded toward Cissnei to lower her weapon. "Make it quick, thief," he told the ninja.

"Of course, of course..." the girl replied meekly, opening her pack and revealing their materia within. Aerith gasped.

"My mother's materia!" she exclaimed.

Sephiroth noticed the pure white materia, head furrowed in confusion as a faint jolt of discomfort burned through him just by looking at the unique orb. Disregarding it for now, he turned his attention back to the ninja.

"Return the materia to her," Sephiroth ordered the girl.

"Okay, okay... geez," the girl grumbled as she dug out the white materia. Standing up, she began to hand the orb back to Aerith.

Too late did Sephiroth notice the ninja's deception. That wasn't the materia! Before the ex-General could react, and with exceptional agility, the ninja threw a smoke bomb on the ground, which instantly detonated. The chaos was instantaneous.

"Shit! M' eyes!"

"Cloud, look out!"

"Stay close, Tifa!"

Laughter was heard amongst the chaos.

"I am the great Yuffie Kisaragi, the Single White Rose of Wutai, and don't you forget it! Catch ya later, chumps!"

"Cissnei! Cloud! Spread out! Find her!" Sephiroth commanded with urgency.

With inhuman speed, the Silver General was in pursuit of the ninja. He had quickly spotted her fleeing through the trees, as many Wutai ninja did. No matter how fast Sephiroth ran, he did not appear to be gaining ground. Indeed, he was actually losing sight of the girl! He had never in his years of combat with Wutaiian ninja encountered one so swift!

It wasn't long before he had completely lost his quarry. As gifted and experienced as he was, even Sephiroth could not hope to track a ninja in the dead of night who was skilled in covering their tracks. Growling with rage at his own incompetence, he turned and returned to camp.

XXXXXXXXXX

AVALANCHE hadn't slept the rest of the night. The entire group had spent the night armed with mako lamps, scouring the woods where Sephiroth had pursued the thief. Even Red had begrudgingly told the group that her scent trail was confused and seemed to be all over the woods, making his efforts useless.

At dawn, the tired and frustrated band checked their materia stockpile. With the exception of Red, Sephiroth and Cissnei, the rest of the group had no materia left to their name. Sephiroth found himself reluctantly parting with a few of his prized materia in an attempt to even out their group's materia-based defense and offense. Barret had chosen to forego the use of materia entirely until they found their materia, saying that he was "no good at that materia castin' bullshit anyway", much to the chagrin of his comrades.

"The ninja was headed in the direction of Junon," Sephiroth spoke up as the group was finishing the clearing of their campsite. "We should try to retrace her steps again now that there is daylight. Tracking her by visual clues may be easier now that it is daylight."

Cloud's brow furrowed. "Wouldn't she be long gone by now?" he asked. "From what you told us, she was going faster than even a SOLDIER 1st can run."

Sephiroth shook his head. "She was clearly augmented by the Turk's Speed materia, which the girl stole from Mr. Wallace here," he responded, ignoring Barret's grumbles. "Speed materia may grant exceptional quickness of movement, but unless the user has very high spiritual attunement, they will tire very quickly."

"So... you mean if we're lucky, she had to stop and rest?" Tifa inquired.

"Indeed," Sephiroth acknowledged.

Aerith spoke up loudly then at this revelation. "Let's go then!" she said energetically.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had taken their group until mid-afternoon to finally reach the Junon plains. The group had encountered a few monsters, but Aerith's unusually furious and powerful high-level spellcasting with the fire and ice materias Sephiroth had loaned her made pathetically quick work of all of them. After a rest at the edge of the forests, the group cautiously made their way westward.

"Now that we are in the open, we will need to be on alert for any aircraft or military vehicles," Sephiroth told them as they made their way. "We will need to be swift. The sooner we get to Lower Junon, the sooner we can get into hiding and plan our next move."

"Wut about that lil' thief? We gotta find 'er too!" Barret protested.

"I have a clear track on her now, Barret," Red told the big man. "Her scent is leading us due west."

"Awright, I trust ya, cat," Barret mumbled.

Cissnei came up beside Sephiroth and Cloud then. "If I'm not mistaken, we are coming up on the main highway between Junon and the southeast military base soon," she told the two men. "We are going to have to cross it if we are to get to Junon."

"Are you sure there's no other option?" Cloud asked.

"No, the Turk is right, Strife," Sephiroth affirmed. "We will need to be especially vigilant."

Cloud spared a worried glance back at Tifa, who was talking to Aerith. He didn't want his childhood friend to be caught by ShinRa again. Not if he could help it.

Red's sudden exclamation cut off the rest of the group's thoughts and conversations. "The scent has changed! I smell... there's something ahead!"

Immediately the entire group was on high alert with weapons drawn. Sephiroth and Cloud took the lead, with Red, Aerith and Tifa in the center, and Cissnei and Barret taking the rear in a defensive formation.

Soon after, the group encountered an immense field of tall prairie grass. Trusting Red's sense of smell along with Sephiroth and Cloud's SOLDIER senses, and Cissnei's Turk training, the group proceeded slowly and cautiously.

"It is directly ahead..." Red rumbled quietly.

Aerith nodded. "I... feel something ahead also," she whispered.

What the group stumbled upon was what appeared to be the site of a scuffle of some size. The grass was flattened in a large area, and there was a large, cleared trail leading west. Cissnei immediately spotted something, and bent to pick it up.

"A standard-issue ammunition cartridge... for a MP automatic rifle..." she said after a moment while examining the cartridge. "Appears to be unused." She then bent down to pick up a black, star-shaped object nearby. "And what appears to be a Wutaiian ninja star."

Aerith let out a small cry as she grasped a white object.

"My materia!" she exclaimed, showing the group the oddly white orb with a wide smile.

Tifa smiled at her friend's exuberance, but it quickly disappeared as she realized what this meant.

"So.. wut happened here anyways?" Barret asked, scratching his head in confusion, clearly not having made the connection yet.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "It appears to be a confrontation between the ShinRa army and undoubtedly our thief," he answered gravely, eyeing Aerith's recovered materia warily. "I am to assume the scent of the ninja continues down that path?" he asked Red, pointing to the trail of trampled grasses to the west.

Red tilted his head in affirmation. "I smell many people, and the girl's is among them, headed in that direction."

Tifa gasped. "Did they kill her?" she asked.

Red closed his good eye. "I do not believe so, at least not here. I do not smell any blood."

Barret shook his fist. "Them ShinRa bastards have our materia! We gotta go after 'em!"

Cissnei shook her head. "Not necessarily, Barret. She may have escaped. She is quite elusive."

Cloud gazed towards the trampled trail to the west. "We should continue that way and see what we find."

Sephiroth nodded. "Agreed."

XXXXXXXXXX

After searching vainly for several minutes for any more of their materia, the group proceeded to head guardedly down the wide, trampled path of field grasses. The trail ended a short distance from a large, four-lane asphalt highway. The group immediately was forced to lay in the tall grass to attempt to remain unseen. Before them was what appeared to be a large motorcade of ShinRa army vehicles. Directly in front of them stood the infamous Head of Public Security, Heidigger.

"Gya ha ha ha ha! The President will be pleased with your performance today in capturing this Wutai spy!" the obese man bellowed to the assembled MPs standing before him at attention. "Let's not delay the President's inauguration further! Dismissed!"

With a salute, the MPs marched in formation up the road as Heidigger continued to laugh. Shortly after the man departed and the motorcade resumed its slow trek, Cissnei let a small gasp and pointed at the back of one particular truck as it rumbled by.

The Great Yuffie Kisaragi, the Single White Rose of Wutai, had been captured by the notoriously incompetent ShinRa army.

XXXXXXXXXX

AN: I want to apologize firstly for the long delay in getting this chapter out. Also, if you notice any errors in punctuation, spelling or whatever, please do let me know! And as always, I do love any reviews you can spare.


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